LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 


GIFT  OF 


Class 


X 


Chamber  or  GommarcBBuilding.NBW  York. 


OPENING  OF  THE  BUILDING 


OF  THE 


CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE 


OP   THE 


STATE   OF   NEW-YORK 


B  -^  isr  Q  TJ  E  T 


IK 


Honor  of  the  Gub:sts  who  attended  the  Dedicatory 
Ceremonies,  November  ii,  1902,  together  with  a 
Brief  History  of  the  Chamber  from  1768  to  1902. 


COMPILED  BY  eEOROE  WILSON,  SECRETARY. 

ilTY 


or  THE  ^ 

UNIVtr^SITY    > 


NEW-YORK: 
PRESS  OF  THE  CHAMBER  OP  COMMERCE. 

19  0  2. 


yHth  the  Complimenh  of 

George  wilsoM, 

Secretary. 


i^^-<^' 


r\- 


COMMITTEE   OF   ARRANGEMENTS. 


Chables  S. 
Morris  K.  Jesup, 
Samxtel  D.  Babcock, 

AliEXAITDEB  E.  OBB, 

Cornelius  N.  Bliss, 
John  Crosby  Brown, 
John  S.  BLennedy, 
Abram  S.  Hewitt, 
Charles  S.  Fairchild, 
Jacob  H.  Schiff, 
J.  Edward  Simmons, 
William  E.  Dodge, 
Levi  P.  Morton, 
J.  PiERPONT  Morgan, 
John  D.  Rockefeller, 
Andrew  Carnegie, 
John  T.  Terry, 
James  T.  Woodward, 


Smith,  Chairman. 

John  Claflin, 
James  0.  Cannon, 
Qeorge  Wilson, 
IsiDOR  Straus, 
Charles  A.  Schieren, 
William  Butler  Duncan, 
Clement  A.  Griscom, 
Charles  Lanier, 
James  Speyer, 
A.  Foster  ELiqgins, 
A.  Barton  Hepburn, 
John  I.  Waterbury, 
Levi  C.  Weir, 
William  H.  Parsons, 
George  Gray  Ward, 
Vbbnon  H.  Brown, 
Francis  R.  Apfleton. 


1  *>  '' 


24  (> 


CONTENTS. 


Pack 

Introdactorj  Note, 1 

Opening  of  the  Building  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  ,17 

The  Guests  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,        .        .        .        .18 
Prayer  by  the  Reverend  Morgak  Dix,  D.  D.,     .  .20 

Address  by  Mr.  Morbis  K.  Jesup,  President  of  the  Chamber  of 

Commerce, 22 

Address  by  the  Honorable  Groter  Clktelakd,  Ex-President 

of  the  United  States, 28 

Speech   by   Theodore   Roosevelt,  President  of  the  United 

States, 36 

Speech  by  the    Honorable  Seth   Low,  Mayor  of  the  City  of 

New- York, 87 

Benediction  by  the  Reverend  Moroait  Dix,  D.  D.,     .  .40 

Banquet  in  Honor  of  the  Guests  who  Attended  the  Opening  of  the 

Building  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 41 

The  Decorations  of  the  Banquet  Hall, 41 

The  Menu 48 

The  Medal, 44 

The  Guests  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  ....     44 

Speech  by  Mr.  Morris  K.  Jesup,  President  of  the  Chamber  of 

Commerce, • 48 

Telegram  from  Count  Ca8Si:m.  Ambassador  Extraordinary  and 

Plenipotentiary  of  Russia, 49 

Cablegrams  from  Chambers  of  Commerce  Abroad,     .        .        .60 


u 

Pasx 
Banquet  in  Honor  of  the  Guests  who  attended  the  Opening  of  the 
Building  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce — Continued : 

Speech  by    Theodore   Roosevelt,  President  of  the  United 

States, 51 

Speech   by  His    Excellency  M.  Jules  Cambon,   Ambassador 

Extraordinary  and  Plenipotentiary  of  the  Republic  of  France,     57 
Speech  by  Sir  Michael  Henry  Herbert,  Ambassador  Extra- 
ordinary and  Plenipotentiary  of  Great  Britain,        .         .         .58 
Speech  by  Prince  Hans  Heinrich  von  Pless,        .        .        ,59 
Speech  by  Sir  Albert  K.  Rollit,  D.  C.  L.,  LL.  D.,  M.  P., 
Chairman  of    the   Delegation  of    the  London   Chamber  of 

Commerce, 62 

Speech  by  Mr.  V.  Hugot,  Delegate  of  the  Paris  Chamber  of 

Commerce, 7$ 

Speech  by  Mr.  Paul  Heckmann,  Vice-President  of  the  Berlin 

Chamber  of  Commerce, 80 

Speech  by  Mr.  William  P.  Wood,  Delegate  of  the  London 

Chamber  of  Commerce, 81 

Participants  in  the  Banquet, 86 

A  Brief  History  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  1768-1902,  93 


INTRODUCTORY   NOTE. 


Theee  days  will  always  stand  out  from  the  rest  in 
the  History  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State 
of  New- York— the  fifth  of  April,  1768,  when  twenty 
New- York  merchants  met  to  organize  the  Chamber; 
the  fifth  of  April,  1900,  just  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
two  years  afterwards,  when  its  building  Committee 
was  able  to  announce  the  completion  of  the  fund  of 
One  Million  of  Dollars  subscribed  to  supply  it  with  a 
permanent  home,  owned  and  paid  for  by  its  own  mem- 
bers ;  and  the  eleventh  of  November,  1902,  when  the 
members  took  possession  of  their  new  home  and  dedi- 
cated it,  with  appropriate  ceremonies,  to  the  uses  of 
commerce  for  all  time.  No  more  suggestive  contrast 
could  be  found  in  all  the  history  of  the  United  States 
than  that  between  the  gathering  in  the  upper  room  of 
Bolton  &  Sigell's  tavern  and  the  assemblage  which 
one  hundred  and  thirty-four  years  later  celebrated 
the  fruition  of  long  years  of  expectation  crowned  by 
the  success  of  a  well  directed  effort.  The  history  of 
the  commerce  of  the  City  and  State  of  New- York,  from 
its  humble  beginnings  to  the  magnificent  proportions  it 
has  achieved  at  the  opening  of  the  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury, is  comprehended  within  the  time  which  separates 
the  two  events.  The  amazing  progress  of  four  genera- 
tions of  the  material  development  of  our  country 
could  nowhere  find  a  more  striking  epitome ;  the  pro- 


2 

mise  which  future  generations  have  in  store  for  this 
development  could,  in  no  other  chapter  of  the  commer- 
cial annals  of  the  country,  be  more  strikingly  indicated. 
From  the  walls  of  the  magnificent  Hall  in  which  the 
members  of  the  Chamber  met  to  celebrate  the  event  of 
the  day,  the  portraits  of  the  earliest  officers  of  the 
Chamber,  and  of  the  long  line  of  their  successors 
looked  down  on  a  company  comprising  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  the  only  surviving  ex-President  of 
the  United  States,  the  Mayor  of  the  City,  and  many  of 
the  bearers  of  the  most  distinguished  names  in  the 
public  life,  the  finance,  the  commerce  and  the  industry 
of  our  time,  besides  diplomatic  representatives  and 
delegates  of  sister  institutions  from  the  great  com- 
mercial nations  of  the  world.  The  company  assembled 
to  assist  in  the  dedication  of  the  Chamber's  new  and 
permanent  home  was  a  convincing  exemplification  of 
the  enlightened  foresight  of  the  New- York  merchants 
of  1768 ;  it  furnished,  besides,  a  magnificent  demon- 
stration of  the  imperial  greatness  of  the  commercial 
metropolis  of  the  Western  hemisphere. 

The  proceedings  were  fitly  opened  by  a  most  impres- 
sive dedicatory  prayer  offered  by  the  Reverend  Doctor 
MoBGAN  Dix,  Rector  of  Trinity  Church.  The  invoca- 
tion was  couched  in  a  strain  of  lofty  piety  and  of  deep 
spiritual  insight.  If  one  petition  more  than  another 
elicited  a  devout  response  in  the  hearts  of  all,  it  was, 
perhaps,  the  following  :  "Give,  in  this  place,  the  spirit 
of  vigilance,  of  clear  discernment,  of  wise  counsel,  and 
the  voice  to  speak  to  the  community  and  the  country 
strong  words,  good  words,  comfortable  words,  as  occa- 
sion shall  suggest  and  exigency  demand." 


The  President  of  the  Chamber,  Mr.  Moeris  K.  Jesup, 
then  proceeded  to  extend  the  cordial  greetings  of  the 
members  to  the  distinguished  guests  who  had  honored 
the  occasion  with  their  presence.  Mr.  Jesup  went  on 
to  say  that  no  ordinary  occasion  could  have  brought 
together  such  an  assemblage,  and  he  proceeded  to 
detail  some  of  the  various  ways  in  which  the  Chamber 
has  become  an  integral  factor  in  the  life  of  the  nation, 
in  the  development  of  the  State,  and  in  the  progress  of 
our  imperial  City.  He  recalled  the  position  of  the 
Chamber  and  the  frequently  recurring  financial  heresies 
which  had  threatened  the  good  name  and  commercial 
stability  of  the  nation,  to  illustrate  the  invaluable  influ- 
ence of  its  discussions  and  decisions.  It  had  been 
closely  identified  with  all  great  public  improvements 
from  the  time  of  the  proposition  of  De  Witt  Clinton 
to  commit  the  State  to  the  construction  of  the  Erie 
Canal  down  to  our  own  day,  when  the  City,  under  the 
influence  of  the  Chamber,  has  undertaken  the  construc- 
tion of  a  system  of  underground  Rapid  Transit,  inferior 
only  in  cost  and  importance  to  the  supply  of  pure 
water,  which,  in  the  early  part  of  the  century,  was 
advocated  and  brought  about  by  the  action  of  the 
Chamber.  After  alluding  to  the  fact  that  in  all  great 
calamities,  in  every  part  of  the  world,  the  action  of  the 
Chamber  had  been  prompt  and  nobly  generous,  Mr. 
Jesup  declared  that  its  greatest  service  to  the  country 
was  undoubtedly  its  steady  support  of  President  Lin- 
coln and  his  illustrious  associates  during  the  Civil 
War  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  An  eloquent 
reference  was  made  to  the  character  and  achievements 
of   the  three    distinguished    citizens  of   New- York — 


Hamilton,  Jay  and  Clinton — whose  statues  will 
adorn  the  front  of  the  building,  and  the  address 
closed  with  an  appeal  to  the  members  to  regard  the 
history  and  inheritance  of  the  Chamber  as  an  incentive 
to  the  faithful  discharge  of  increased  duties  and  respon- 
sibilities— to  live  up  to  the  traditions  of  the  Chamber, 
as  exemplified  in  the  lives  and  characters  of  those  who 
had  gone  before. 

The  Honorable  Geovee  Cleveland,  Ex-President  of 
the  United  States,  followed  in  an  address  reviewing  the 
historic  influence  of  the  Chamber  and  the  relations  of 
its  work  to  the  needs  of  our  time.  He  enlarged  upon 
the  civilizing  influence  of  that  cosmopolitan  commerce 
which  has  not  only  made  the  activities  of  business  as 
wide  as  the  world  in  scope  and  volume,  but  which 
peacefully  leads  the  way  to  brotherhood  among  the 
most  distantly  separated  peoples,  points  out  the  path 
of  universal  civilization,  and  fixes  for  the  nations  of 
the  earth  the  standard  of  national  greatness.  He  held 
that  commerce  has  done  an  immense  service  to  hu- 
manity by  enlarging  within  its  wide  influence  the 
acceptance  of  the  laws  of  honest  dealing  among  civil- 
ized communities,  and  by  curbing  man's  besetting  sin 
of  selfishness  and  greed.  But,  he  added,  that  com- 
merce, by  what  it  has  already  done,  by  what  lies  yet  in 
its  path  undone,  and  by  what  it  is  able  to  do,  has 
created  a  mission  which  cannot  be  fulfilled  by  increased 
effort  directed  solely  to  gaining  more  business  advan- 
tages. He  pointed  out  that  this  mission  was  impressively 
recognized,  and  its  obligations  fully  confessed,  when 
representatives  of  the  commerce  of  the  United  States 
met  in  delightful   hospitality  and   brotherhoood  the 


leaders  of  the  commercial  organizatioDS  of  Great 
Britain.  He  deprecated  the  somewhat  loose  method  of 
employing  the  term  "commercialism"  to  describe  cer- 
tain political  and  economic  phases  of  our  national 
tendencies,  which  are  greatly  lamented  by  good  people 
solicitous  for  our  country's  welfare.  With  our  concep- 
tion of  what  commerce  is  and  ought  to  be,  we  have  just 
ground  for  complaint  when  this  word  is  used  as  descrip- 
tive of  sordid  money  getting.  He  concluded  with  the 
declaration  that  the  exercises  of  the  day,  recalling  so 
forcibly  the  growth  of  American  commerce  in  world- 
wide influence,  were  an  especial  subject  for  congratu- 
lation to  the  citizens  of  this  State  and  City  upon  the 
association  of  both  with  the  fame  and  honor  which 
have  been  achieved  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of 
the  State  of  New- York. 

The  President  of  the  United  States  then  addressed  a 
few  words  of  greeting  to  the  members  and  their  guests. 
In  his  capacity  of  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  Nation 
he  spoke  on  behalf  of  the  people  as  a  whole,  as  well 
as  on  behalf  of  the  Chamber,  in  thanking,  for  their 
presence  here  the  distinguished  representatives  of 
foreign  countries  who  had  come  to  do  honor  to  the 
occasion.  Finally,  he  extended  a  greeting  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Chamber,  not  merely  because  their  organiza- 
tion stood  for  commercial  success,  but  because  it  had 
been  able  to  show  that  the  greatest  commercial  success 
can  square  with  the  immutable  and  eternal  laws  of 
decent  and  right  living  and  of  fair  dealing  between  man 
and  man. 

The  Honorable  Seth  how,   Mayor  of  the   City  of 


e 

New- York,  then  expressed,  in  the  name  of  the  City, 
his  acknowledgment  of  its  great  indebtedness  to  the 
Chamber.  He  said  that  the  City  appreciated  the  great 
importance  of  the  services  received  at  their  hands,  and 
that  it  was  ready  now,  as  it  had  always  been,  to  do 
everything  in  its  power  to  develop  the  commercial  facil- 
ities of  the  Port  and  City  of  New- York.  He  alluded  to 
the  fact  that  the  City  was  now  building  piers  800  feet 
in  length,  but  that  since  they  were  planned  the  intima- 
tion had  come  that  they  must  be  made  1,000  feet  in 
length  if  they  are  to  accommodate  the  vessels  of  five 
years  from  now.  The  Mayor  went  on  to  show  that  the 
Chamber  had  not  limited  its  activity  either  to  the  pro- 
motion of  public  enterprise  or  of  commercial  interest. 
It  had  illustrated  on  every  occasion  a  patriotism  and  a 
public  spirit  which  has  been  an  object  lesson  to  the 
whole  population  of  the  City,  and  whenever  New- York 
has  been  confronted  with  exceptional  perils,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Chamber  had  been  in  the  forefront  of  the 
battle  for  its  redemption.  He  held  it  to  be  character- 
istic of  the  Chamber  that,  while  it  encouraged  every 
good  work,  and  while  its  membership  had  established 
universities  and  colleges,  and  hospitals  and  libraries, 
and  had  contributed  to  every  agency  that  ministers  to 
the  enrichment  of  our  national  life,  it  had  only  just 
provided  for  itself  a  home  of  its  own.  He  could  give 
the  Chamber  no  better  wish  than  that,  as  time  fills  this 
building  with  the  memories  and  associations  that  shall 
make  it  precious  to  the  members  who  assemble  here, 
the  ancient  spirit  of  public  service,  which  has  been  so 
characteristic  of  the  Chamber  throughout  its  history, 
may  remain  so  essential  a  part  of  the  atmosphere  of  the 


building  as  to  make  and  keep  it  a  source  of  pride  to 
the  people  of  the  City. 

The  ceremonies  were  brought  to  a  close  by  the  bene- 
diction pronounced  by  the  Reverend  Doctor  Dix. 

A  Banquet  in  honor  of  the  guests  who  attended 
the  Dedicatory  Ceremonies  on  the  opening  of  the 
building  was  held  in  the  great  hall  of  the  Waldorf- 
Astoria,  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day.  The  decora- 
tions of  the  hall  were  of  the  most  elaborate  char- 
acter, an  illuminatied  reproduction  in  colors  of  the 
great  seal  of  the  Chamber  occupying  a  position  over  the 
head  of  the  Chairman,  and  forming  the  centre  of  the 
whole  elaborate  scheme  of  mural  adornment.  The 
President  of  the  Chamber,  Mr.  Moeeis  K.  Jesup,  occu- 
pied the  chair,  and  on  the  platform  beside  him  were 
seated  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  Governor 
of  the  State,  and  the  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New- York, 
the  Ambassadors  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  the  Republic  of  France,  and 
Prince  Hans  Heinrich  von  Pless,  the  special  repre- 
sentative of  the  German  Emperor;  the  Secretaries  of 
the  Treasury  and  the  War  Department  of  the  United 
States,  and  a  number  of  other  distinguished  guests 
from  the  walks  of  commerce  and  public  life  at  home 
and  abroad. 

On  the  conclusion  of  the  Banquet,  the  Chairman 
made  a  brief  opening  address  in  which  he  congratu- 
lated those  present  on  a  red  letter  day  in  the  history  of 
the  Chamber,  and  made  a  passing  reference  to  the  dis- 
tinguished guests  on  his  right  and  left.  He  then 
read  a  telegram,   expressing   the  regret  of  the  Rus- 


8 

sian  Ambassador,  Count  Cassini,  at  his  inability  to  be 
present,  and  adding  the  sincere  hope  that  the  commer- 
cial relations  between  Russia  and  the  United  States 
would  attain  a  development  corres))onding  to  the  tradi- 
tional sentiments  of  friendship  existing  between  the 
governments  ;  three  cablegrams  conveying  congratula- 
tions from  the  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  Bremen,  Ham- 
burg and  Frankfort,  and  two  others  of  like  tenor  from 
the  American  Chambers  of  Commerce  in  Paris  and 
Liverpool. 

Amid  much  enthusiasm  the  audience  drank  the  toast 
of  "The  President  of  the  United  States,"  who,  in 
reply,  said  that  nowhere  in  the  country  could  there  be 
gathered  an  audience  which  would  stand  as  more  typi- 
cally characteristic  of  all  those  qualities  and  attributes 
which  had  given  the  United  States  its  commanding 
position  in  the  industrial  world.  He  proceeded  to  say 
that  the  welfare  of  New- York  was  no  matter  of  mere 
local  or  municipal,  but  of  national  concern,  and  that 
this  fact  must  be  taken  into  account  in  appreciating  the 
importance  of  the  part  played  by  the  New- York 
Chamber  of  Commerce.  After  remarking  that  we  had 
passed  that  stage  of  national  development  when  depre- 
ciation of  other  peoples  is  felt  to  be  a  tribute  to  our 
own,  he  went  on  to  define  what  he  conceived  to  be  the 
proper  attitude  of  this  Republic  toward  the  powers  of 
the  world,  and  the  way  in  which  it  could  best  promote 
the  maintenance  of  international  peace.  He  held  that 
while  it  was  important  that  we  should  have  peace 
abroad,  it  was  still  more  important  that  we  should  have 
peace  at  home,  and  to  that  end  he  invoked  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce.    He  believed  that 


9 

no  patent  remedy  could  be  devised  for  the  solution  of 
the  grave  problems  which  existed  in  the  industrial 
world,  but  he  felt  assured  that  they  could  be  solved 
only  by  bringing  to  the  task  certain  old-time  prin- 
ciples and  excluding  from  its  performance  certain 
familiar  and  most  undesirable  traits  which  had  in  the 
past  brought  untold  degradation  and  suffering  to  man- 
kind. He  deprecated  the  growing  tendency  to  demand 
the  illegitimate  and  unwise  transfer  to  the  Government 
of  much  of  the  work  that  could  be  done  by  private 
persons,  either  individually  or  in  association,  and  he 
found  pleasure  in  addressing  a  body  whose  members 
possessed  to  an  eminent  degree  the  traditional  Ameri- 
can spirit  of  self-reliance.  He  concluded  by  sum- 
marizing the  great  qualities  with  which  he  held  the 
Chamber  to  be  in  a  pre-eminent  degree  identified, 
expressing  the  conviction  that  the  continuance  of  the 
marvellous  prosperity  which  the  country  now  enjoys 
depended  in  no  small  measure  upon  the  fidelity  of  the 
Chamber  in  the  future  to  the  great  traditions  which 
had  adorned  its  past. 

The  response  to  the  toast,  "To  the  Rulers  of  Nations 
represented  at  the  Banquet,"  was  made  by  M.  Jules 
Cambon,  Ambassador  Extraordinary  and  Plenipoten- 
tiary of  the  Republic  of  France,  and  Doyen  of  the 
Diplomatic  Body  at  Washington.  His  brief  remarks 
closed  with  the  statement  that  all  Europe,  and  espe- 
cially all  France,  would  be  happy  over  anything  tending 
to  strengthen  the  ties  of  friendship  binding  the  coun- 
tries here  represented  to  the  United  States. 

Departing  from  the  fixed  order  of  the  toasts,  the 
Chairman  called  upon  Sir  Michael  Henby  Herbert, 


10 

the  new  Ambassador  who  has  just  come  from  our 
friend,  Great  Britain.  In  reply,  Sir  Michael  alluded 
to  the  appropriateness  of  speaking  on  such  an  occasion 
as  the  representative  of  the  King  of  England,  since  the 
original  charter  of  the  Chamber  was  granted  by  a  King 
of  England,  and  because  the  present  King  had  given 
evidence  of  the  friendly  interest  which  he  felt  in  the 
welfare  of  the  Chamber.  The  Ambassador  went  on  to 
say  that  commercial  and  social  intercourse  did  more 
than  all  the  diplomatists  to  bring  countries  together, 
and  he  was  glad  to  have  the  opportunity  of  beginning 
an  acquaintance  with  business  men  which  he  hoped 
would  become  permanent. 

The  Chairman  explained  that  in  the  absence  of  the 
German  Ambassador  at  Washington,  the  German 
Emperor  had  appointed  as  his  representative  to  express 
his  good  will  and  friendly  feeling  toward  this  country 
Prince  Hans  Heineich  voi^r  Pless,  who,  after  due 
introduction,  made  a  brief  address.  He  referred  to  the 
international  character  of  the  occasion,  and  remarked 
on  the  increased  importance  which  the  commerce  and 
industry  of  the  United  States  had  achieved  throughout 
the  world  as  a  reason  why  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
of  the  commercial  and  financial  centre  of  the  Union 
should  occupy  a  place  in  the  front  rank  with  her  sister- 
organizations  abroad.  He  considered  it  a  special  duty 
and  pleasure  to  express  on  behalf  of  his  sovereign  and 
country  the  feeling  of  gratitude  with  which  Germany 
remembered  the  warm  and  friendly  reception  but  lately 
accorded  to  a  Prince  of  the  Royal  House  of  Prussia. 
While  each  nation  must  do  its  best  to  protect  its  own 
interests  in  the  common  field  of  international  compe- 


11 

tition,  it  was  the  judgment  of  the  speaker  that  mntual 
welfare  is,  to-day,  the  true  community  of  interests 
among  the  nations  of  the  world.  There  was  room  for 
all  in  the  world's  markets,  and  fair  and  liberal- spirited 
competition  had  in  itself  an  element  of  education  and 
mutual  understanding  conducive  to  friendly  appreci- 
ation of  each  other's  good  points.  The  Prince  closed 
by  offering,  on  behalf  of  his  sovereign  and  his  country, 
their  best  and  most  earnest  wishes  for  the  future  of 
this  great  and  friendly  nation,  and  for  the  work  of  one 
of  the  most  important  agencies  of  its  economic  welfare, 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New- York. 

In  introducing  Sir  Albert  K.  Rollit,  the  Chairman 
of  the  Delegation  of  the  London  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, Mr.  Jesup  made  a  feeling  reference  to  the  im- 
pression which  the  hospitality  of  the  London  Chamber 
had  made  on  those  who  participated  in  it.  He  said 
that  he  and  his  associates  who  had  represented  the 
New- York  Chamber  in  London  came  away  feeling 
toward  their  brothers  in  England  a  tie  of  friendship, 
respect  and  love  such  as  they  had  not  had  before. 

Sir  Albert,  in  replying  to  the  toast  of  "The  Cham- 
bers of  Commerce  of  the  World,  the  Modern  Succes- 
sors of  the  Guilds  of  the  Middle  Ages,"  went  on  to 
enumerate  the  Chambers  which  had  the  honor  and 
privilege  of  being  represented  at  the  Banquet,  and  he 
conveyed  their  united  thanks  for  the  hospitality  they 
had  enjoyed,  and  their  congratulations  upon  the  open- 
ing of  the  new  building.  He  remarked  that  the  beauty 
of  the  building  and  the  harmony  of  all  its  parts  were  a 
contribution  not  only  to  the  history  of  commerce  but  to 
the  civic  development  of  the  country  and  the  beautifi- 


12 

cation  of  the  City.  He  bore  emphatic  testimony  to  the 
example  which  the  Chamber  had  set  to  the  whole 
world,  of  cosmopolitan  philanthropy  and  benevolence, 
as  well  as  to  the  high  standard  and  tone  of  commercial 
morality  which  it  had  erected  and  sustained.  It  ap- 
peared to  him  somewhat  of  a  paradox  that,  coming 
from  the  old  world  to  the  new,  he  should  find  in  New- 
York  so  much  to  remind  him  of  the  time  when  the 
Georges  were  Kings  of  England.  He  came  from  a 
Chamber  of  Commerce  founded  in  1882  in  London, 
recalling  the  fact  that  the  earliest  institutions  of  this 
kind  that  Great  Britain  could  produce  were  the  Glasgow 
Chamber  dating  from  1783,  and  that  of  Edinburgh  from 
1785,  and  he  entered  a  Chamber  of  Commerce  whos6 
charter  was  given  by  King  George  the  Third  in  1770. 
Even  the  original  seal  of  the  Chamber  is  older  than  the 
present  great  seal  of  the  United  Kingdom.  He  pro- 
ceeded to  argue  that  Chambers  of  Commerce  are  based 
upon  the  application  of  the  principle  of  co-operation, 
and  that  by  this  collective  action  men  of  commerce  are 
able  as  a  whole  to  do  for  each  other  much  that  indi- 
duals  could  never  do  for  themselves.  He  added  that 
the  whole  world  owed  to  the  New- York  Chamber  a 
great  lesson  and  a  great  example,  namely,  that  it  had 
widened  the  objective  of  political  economy  from  mere 
wealth  to  the  greater  and  better  one  of  the  welfare  of 
mankind.  He  recalled  the  share  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  in  bringing  about  arbitration  in  regard  to 
the  Venezuelan  dispute,  and  he  held  that  to  be  one  of 
many  examples  of  the  fact  of  commerce  being  a  powerful 
influence  on  the  side  of  peace.  The  great  Anglo-Saxon 
peace  which  they  all  hoped  for  was  a  peace  of  liberty 


13 

and  hopefulness,  and  the  countries  which  may  be 
spoken  of  as  part  of  that  great  confederation  are  as 
the  weft  and  the  warp,  while  the  great  steamers  that 
pass  to  and  fro  between  the  two  are  like  gigantic 
shuttles  weaving  it  into  one  harmonious  whole, 

Mr.  V.  HuGOT  next  spoke  as  delegate  of  the  Paris 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  regretted  that  its  President 
had  been  prevented  from  responding  to  the  invitation 
sent  to  him.  The  speaker  said  that  he  had  been  for 
more  than  half  a  century  in  close  contact  with  the 
business  of  New- York,  beginning  at  the  time  of  the 
Presidential  contest  between  Frakklin  Pierce  and 
General  Soott.  Replying  to  the  toast  of  "  Reciprocity 
between  Nations  is  the  application  of  Commercial  Prin- 
ciples and  Methods  to  International  Intercourse,"  M. 
HuGOT  said  that  the  old  phrase,  "  Do  ut  Des,^^  must  be 
hereafter  understood  in  the  sense  of  equitable  recipro- 
city and  loyal  international  intercourse  for  the  benefit 
of  all.  He  expressed  the  pleasure  with  which  his 
Chamber  had  hailed  the  project  of  a  commercial  conven- 
tion planned  in  1899  between  France  and  the  United 
States,  and  he  referred  to  the  satisfaction  with  which 
he  should  see  the  New- York  Chamber  encourage  the 
definite  adoption  of  a  convention  which  would  unite 
more  closely  the  ancient  and  intimate  bonds  existing 
between  the  two  nations.  He  concluded  by  thanking 
his  audience,  as  the  representatives  of  American  com- 
merce, for  the  support  they  had  given  to  the  assump- 
tion by  the  United  States  of  the  task  of  completing 
the  great  enterprise  of  the  Panama  Canal.  The  Ameri- 
can Republic,  which  had  opened  the  railway  of 
Panama,  was  faithful  to  her  traditions  in  completing 


14 

the  canal  which  would  nnite  the  two  most  frequented 
seas  of  the  globe,  and,  in  the  long  lapse  of  ages,  the 
names  of  the  United  States  and  France  would  be 
inseparable  in  the  memory  of  future  generations. 

The  toast  of  "The  World's  Commercial  Navies.  The 
Tie  that  binds  Foreign  Nations  in  the  Mutual  Per- 
formance of  Good  Works,"  was  responded  to  by  Mr. 
Paul  Heokmann,  Vice-President  of  the  Berlin  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce.  He  referred  to  the  fact  that  this  was 
the  first  time  that  the  Berlin  Chamber  had  sent,  in  an 
official  capacity,  a  representative  to  New- York,  and  he 
took  occasion  to  express  the  sincere  thanks  of  himself 
and  his  associates  for  the  invitation  which  they  had 
received  and  their  best  wishes  for  a  continued  reciprocal 
activity  on  the  same  grandiose  scale  as  to-day.  His 
wishes  culminated  in  the  hope  that  the  American  flag 
might  have  success  attend  it  in  all  countries  of  the 
world  where  industry  and  commerce  exist,  and  he 
believed  that  the  more  expanded  these  relations  became 
the  greater  would  be  the  happiness  and  well-being  of 
all  civilized  countries. 

The  last  toast  of  the  evening,  "The  Merchant.  One 
of  the  Oldest  of  Human  Professions.  He  has  always 
been  a  Leader  in  the  Historic  March  of  Liberty  and 
Progress,"  was  responded  to  by  Mr.  William  P. 
Wood,  President  of  the  London  Corn  Trade  Associa- 
tion, and  one  of  the  delegates  of  the  London  Chamber 
of  Commerce.  He  presented  a  highly  interesting  and 
suggestive  review  of  the  evolution  of  the  merchant  in 
history,  and  he  insisted  that  the  bloodless  victories 
which  the  merchant  gains  are  no  less  honorable  and  no 


15 

less  important  to  the  welfare  of  mankind  than  those 
achieved  by  the  more  brutal  agency  of  the  sword. 

In  thanking  the  distinguished  guests  for  their  pre- 
sence, President  Jesup  asked  the  company  to  drink 
to  their  future  health  and  happiness,  and  proposed 
"Our  Guests."  After  this  appropriate  formula  had 
been  observed  Mr.  Jesup  announced  it  to  be  his 
duty  to  say  that  their  delightful  entertainment  had 
closed. 

In  addition  to  the  formal  proceedings  to  which  refer- 
ence has  been  made  there  were  several  incidents  of 
special  interest  in  connection  with  the  reception  of  the 
foreign  guests  of  the  Chamber  which  deserve  notice. 
The  care  of  these  guests  was  confided  to  a  Committee 
composed  of  Messrs.  A.  Barton  Hepburn,  John  I. 
Waterbury,  Isidor  Straus,  George  Gray  Ward, 
and  the  Secretary  of  the  Chamber.  A  visit  to  Wash- 
ington was  part  of  the  programme  arranged  for  the 
entertainment  of  the  guests,  but  as  President  Roose- 
velt was  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  for  a  trip  in  the 
South  he  agreed  to  receive  them  in  the  rooms  of  the 
Chamber  after  the  luncheon  which  followed  the  dedi- 
catory exercises.  Ex-President  Cleveland  assisted  at 
this  function,  which  was,  in  every  way,  a  form  of 
welcome  greatly  appreciated  by  the  visitors  from 
abroad. 

On  the  foUovsdng  day  the  party  were  received  by 
Mayor  Low  in  the  Governor's  room  of  the  City  Hall, 
and  were  cordially  welcomed  by  him  in  the  name  of  the 
City  of  New- York.  On  Thursday,  November  13,  the 
party  visited  Washington  and  on  their  arrival  at  4.30 
P.  M.  they  were  received  at  the  Department  of  State 


16 

by  Secretary  Hay.  In  the  evening  a  banquet  was  given 
at  the  Arlington  Hotel  in  honor  of  the  distinguished 
visitors.  Mr.  Hepbukn  presided.  Speeches  were  made 
by  the  French  and  British  Ambassadors,  by  Prince 
Hans  Heineich  von  Pless,  Secretary  Shaw  of  the 
Treasury  Department,  Admiral  Dewey,  Generals  Cor- 
BiN  and  Young  and  others.  On  the  following  day, 
Friday,  November  14,  the  visiting  party  were  shown 
the  Capitol,  the  Congressional  Library,  and  other 
public  buildings,  devoted  to  the  work  of  the  Gov- 
ernment in  Washington,  as  well  as  some  of  the  most 
interesting  features  of  the  City  and  its  environs.  The 
excursion  to  Washington  was  under  the  immediate 
care  of  Messrs.  Hepburn,  Waterbury  and  the  Secre- 
tary, and  proved  a  highly  satisfactory  supplement  to 
the  more  memorable  phases  of  the  hospitality  of  the 
Chamber. 

Chamber  of  Commerce, 
New- York,  December  24,  1902. 


OPENING  OF  THE  BUILDING 


CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE 


The  ceremonies  attending  the  opening  of  the  building 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New- 
York,  at  Numbers  Fifty-Nine  to  Sixty-Five  Liberty 
Street,  corner  of  Liberty  Place,  in  the  City  of  New- 
York,  and  its  dedication  to  the  uses  of  commerce,  were 
held  Tuesday,  November  the  Eleventh,  Nineteen  Hun- 
dred and  Two,  at  twelve  o'clock  noon. 

More  than  nine  hundred  members  of  the  Chamber 
attended,  including  the  prominent  merchants,  bankers 
and  business  men  of  the  City. 

The  President  of  the  United  States  and  members  of 
his  Cabinet,  the  Ex-President  of  the  United  States, 
the  Ambassadors  of  England,  and  France,  a  special 
representative  of  Germany,  and  delegates  from  the 
prominent  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  those  countries, 
honored  the  occasion  by  their  presence. 

Mr.  Morris  K.  Jesup,  President  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  presided. 


18 

GUEST8  OF  THE  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE. 

The  invitation  of  the  Chamber  to  attend  the  ceremo- 
nies was  accepted  by  the  following  named  gentlemen  : 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  President  of  the  United 
States. 

The  Honorable  Grover  Cleveland,  Ex-President  of 
the  United  States. 

Mr.  Jules  Cambon,  Ambassador  Extraordinary  and 
Plenipotentiary  of  France. 

Sir  Michael  Henry  Herbert,  Ambassador  Extra- 
ordinary and  Plenipotentiary  of  Great  Britain. 

Prince  Hans  Heinrich  von  Pless,  Special  Repre- 
sentative of  Germany. 

The  Honorable  Leslie  M.  Shaw,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury. 

The  Honorable  Elihu  Root,  Secretary  of  War. 

Rear  Admiral  Albert  S.  Barker,  United  States 
Navy. 

The  Honorable  Seth  Low,  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New- 
York. 

The  Honorable  Whitelaw  Reid,  Honorary  Member 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  Charles  S.  Smith,  Ex-President  and  Honorary 
Member  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  Hugh  H.  Hanna,  Honorary  Member  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  Alexander  E.  Orr,  Ex-President  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce. 

The  Reverend  Morgan  Dix,  D.  D. 


19 

Sir  Albert  K.  Rollit,  D.  C.  L.,  LL.  D.,  M.  P., 
Chairman  of  the  Delegation  of  the  London  Chamber  of 
Commerce. 

Sir  Vincent  Kennett-Baeeington,  Delegate  of  the 
London  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Lient. -General  J.  W.  Laurie,  M.  P.,  Delegate  of  the 
London  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  H.  C.  Richards,  K.  C,  M.  P.,  Delegate  of  the 
London  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  James  Dixon,  Delegate  of  the  London  Chamber 
of  Commerce. 

Mr.  William  P.  Wood,  Delegate  of  the  London 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  Arthur  Serena,  J.  P.,  Delegate  of  the  London 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  P.  Faithfull  Begg,  Delegate  of  the  London 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Major  S.  Flood  Page,  Delegate  of  the  London 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  John  Hume,  Delegate  of  the  London  Chamber  of 
Commerce. 

Mr.  J.  Y.  Henderson,  Delegate  of  the  London 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  Kenric  B.  Murray,  Secretary  and  Delegate  of 
the  London  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  V.  Hugot,  Delegate  of  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce of  Paris. 

Count  Raoul  Chandon,  Delegate  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  Rheims. 

Mr.  Leon  Porte,  Delegate  of  the  Association  des 
Tissus  of  Paris. 


20 

Mr.  Erik  Pontoppidan,  Delegate  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  Hamburg. 

Mr.  Joseph  Guiistet,    Delegate  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  Lyons. 

Mr.  Francis  Kimbel,   President  of   the  American 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Paris. 

Sir  Percy  Sanderson,   Consul    General  of    Great 
Britain. 

Mr.   Gaston   Yelten,    Acting   Consul   General  of 
France. 

Mr.  Karl  Buenz,  Consul  General  of  Germany. 

Mr.  Nicholas  de  Ladygensky,  Consul  General  of 
Russia. 
,     Mr.  C.  Clive  Bayley,  Consul  of  Great  Britain. 

Mr.  Alfred  Mosely. 

President  Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  of  Columbia 
University. 

Rev.  Henry  Van  Dyke,  D.  D. 

Mr.  George  B.  Cortelyou. 

Mr.   Henry  E.   Gourd,    President  of    the    French 
Chamber  of  Commerce  in  the  City  of  New- York. 

Mr.  William  Mackenzie,  of  Dundee,  Scotland. 

Mr.  William  R.  Willcox. 

Mr.  John  Foord. 

Mr.  St.  Clair  McKelway. 

Mr.  Henry  M.  Stegman. 

PRAYER  BY  THE  REVEREND  MORGAN  DIX,  D.  D. 

The  ceremonies  were  opened  by  prayer  by  the  Rev- 
erend Morgan  Dix,  D.  D.,  as  follows  : 

Our  Father,  who  art  in  Heaven,  ^Hallowed  be  Thy 


21 

Name,  Thy  Kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done  on 
Earth,  as  it  is  in  Heaven.  Give  us  this  day  our  daily 
bread.  And  forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  forgive 
those  who  trespass  against  us.  And  lead  us  not  into 
temptation.  But  deliver  us  from  evil.  For  Thine  is  the 
Kingdom,  and  the  Power,  and  the  Grlory,  for  ever  and 
ever.     Amen. 

Direct  us,  O  Lord,  in  all  our  doings,  with  Thy  most 
gracious  favor,  and  further  us  with  Thy  continual  help  ; 
that  in  all  our  works  begun,  continued,  and  ended  in 
Thee,  we  may  glorify  Thy  Holy  Name,  and  finally,  by 
Thy  mercy,  obtain  everlasting  life,  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord.     Amen. 

Almighty  and  everlasting  God,  King  of  Kings  and 
Lord  of  Lords,  dwelling  in  the  light  which  no  man  can 
approach  unto,  Who  keepest  covenant  and  mercy  with 
Thy  servants  that  walk  before  Thee  with  all  their  heart  : 
May  it  please  graciously  to  accept  the  action  of  this 
day  in  the  dedication  of  this  house,  in  Thy  name  and 
presence.  Thou  who  has  set  Thy  glory  above  the 
heavens,  visit  us  Thy  people,  dwellers  in  these  earthly 
tabernacles,  that  what  we  do  may  be  done  to  the  praise 
of  Thy  great  name.  Thine,  O  Lord,  is  the  greatness, 
and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  and  the  victory  and  the 
majesty  :  for  all  that  is  in  the  heaven  and  in  the  earth  is 
Thine ;  Thine  is  the  Kingdom,  O  Lord,  and  Thou  art 
exalted  as  head  above  all.  Both  riches  and  honor 
come  of  Thee,  and  Thou  reignest  over  all ;  and  in 
Thine  hand  is  power  and  might ;  and  in  Thine  hand  it 
is  to  make  great  and  to  give  strength  unto  all.  Now, 
therefore.  Our  God,  we  thank  Thee  and  praise  Thy 
glorious  name. 

Almighty  God,  from  whom  all  good  things  proceed, 
send  Thy  blessing  on  this  Chamber  of  Commerce  and 
on  whatsoever  shall  be  done  in  this  place  by  its  mem- 
bers. Strengthen  their  brotherhood ;  lift  up  their 
hearts  in  their  work  for  the  good  of  the  City  and  the 


22 

State.  Give,  in  this  place,  the  spirit  of  vigilance,  of 
clear  discernment,  of  wise  counsel,  and  the  voice  to 
speak  to  the  community  and  the  country  strong  words, 
good  words,  comfortable  words,  as  occasion  shall  sug- 
gest and  exigency  demand.  The  Lord  Grod  be  with  this 
Association,  as  He  was  with  their  fathers  ;  let  Him  not 
leave  them  nor  forsake  them  ;  that  He  may  incline  their 
hearts  unto  Him  ;  to  walk  in  all  His  ways,  and  to  keep 
His  commandments  and  His  statutes  and  His  judg- 
ments which  he  commanded  our  fathers  ;  that  they  may 
stand  in  their  ranks,  and  be  strong  and  helpful  in  the 
latter  days. 

Almighty  God,  who  in  the  former  time  leddest  our 
fathers  forth  into  a  wealthy  place,  and  didst  set  their 
feet  in  a  large  room,  give  Thy  grace  to  us  their  children 
that  we  may  always  approve  ourselves  a  people  mindful 
of  Thy  favor  and  glad  to  do  Thy  will.  Bless  our  land 
with  honorable  industry,  sound  learning  and  pure  man- 
ners. Defend  our  liberties,  preserve  our  unity.  Save 
us  from  violence,  discord  and  confusion,  from  pride  and 
arrogancy,  and  from  every  evil  way.  Fashion  into  one 
happy  people  the  multitude  brought  hither  out  of 
many  kindreds  and  tongues.  Endue  with  the  spirit  of 
wisdom  those  whom  we  entrust  in  Thy  name  with  the 
authority  of  governance,  to  the  end  that  there  may  be 
peace  at  home  and  that  we  keep  our  place  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  In  the  time  of  our  prosperity 
temper  our  self-confidence  with  thankfulness,  and  in 
the  day  of  trouble  suffer  not  our  trust  in  Thee  to  fail. 
All  of  which  we  ask  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake.     Amen. 


addeess  by  me.  moeeis  k.  jesup,  peesident  of  the 
ohambee  of  oommeece. 

Fellow    Membees    of   The    Chambee    and    oue 
Guests:    It  is  my  high  privilege,   as   the    presiding 


23 

officer  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of 
New- York,  to  extend  the  cordial  greetings  of  its 
members  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  [ap- 
plause,] to  the  Honorable  Gr rover  Cleveland,  Ex- 
President  of  the  United  States,  [applause,]  to  the 
Mayor  of  our  City  [applause]  and  to  the  other  distin- 
guished guests,  who  have  gathered  here  to-day  from  all 
parts  of  our  common  country  and  from  foreign  lands  to 
join  in  the  congratulations  of  the  Chamber  upon  its  hav- 
ing at  length  achieved,  after  many  years  of  hope  and 
effort,  the  erection  of  this  building,  which  is  to  be  its 
permanent  home,  and  which  I  trust  you  will  all  agree  is 
worthy  of  the  enlightened  and  beneficent  object  for 
which  the  Chamber  was  originally  founded.  No  ordi- 
nary occasion  would  bring  together  such  an  assemblage 
of  distinguished  men  representing  the  State,  the 
Church,  the  Bench  and  the  learned  professions,  and  all 
departments  of  business,  which,  in  New- York,  have 
made  for  themselves  a  record  of  unsurpassed  excellence. 
Indeed,  this  is  an  extraordinary  occasion.  Whatever 
claims  to  distinction  in  other  directions  the  City  "of 
New-York  may  possess,  and  they  are  many,  its  chief 
prominence  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  is,  and  must  ever 
be,  due  to  its  trade  and  commerce.  From  its  very 
foundation  New- York,  differing  from  the  other 
colonies,  which  were  settled  either  for  religious  or 
political  considerations,  became  the  home  of  men  of  all 
nations  who  sought  to  establish  commercial  relations 
with  the  new  continent  and  to  develop  its  resources  for 
the  general  profit  of  mankind.  It  was  a  commercial 
settlement  at  the  outset,  and  during  its  long  career  the 
chief  aim  of  its  citizens  has  been  to  enlarge  the  com- 
merce of  the  country  by  the  development  of  its 
resources  and  the  interchange  of  its  products  for  the 
commodities  of  an  older  civilization.  It  was  this  spirit 
that  impelled   twenty  representative  merchants,   with 


24 

John  Ceugee  at  their  head,  and  afterwards  first 
President  of  the  Chamber,  to  come  together  at 
Bolton  &  Sigell's,  now  known  as  Fraunce's 
Tavern,  at  the  corner  of  Pearl  and  Broad  streets, 
in  the,  year  1768,  a  date  antecedent  to  the  Eepublic, 
and  organize  the  Chamber  of  Commerce.  In  its 
original  Articles  of  Incorporation  granted  by  George 
the  Third  in  1770,  it  is  distinctly  set  forth  that 
the  object  of  the  Chamber  is  to  secure  "  the 
numberless  inestimable  benefits  which  have  ac- 
crued to  mankind  from  commerce,"  and  that  "  the 
enlargement  of  trade  will  vastly  increase  the  general 
opulence  of  the  colony."  Power  is  given  to  hold  real 
estate  and  to  establish  suitable  offices  for  the  conduct  of 
the  business  of  the  corporation.  The  records,  which  have 
come  down  to  us  unimpaired,  will  show  that  one  of  the 
main  objects  of  the  Chamber  has  been  at  all  times  to 
secure  for  itself  a  building  which  might  be  worthy  of 
its  high  mission  and  of  the  great  State  of  New- York, 
whose  name  it  bears.  It  was  also  felt  that  the  building, 
when  erected,  should  adequately  represent  by  its  loca- 
tion, dignity  and  appointments,  the  beneficent  pur- 
poses for  which  the  Chamber  was  founded. 

Its  history  up  to  1856  has  been  fully  recorded  by  the 
graceful  yen  of  Dr.  Charles  King,  a  former  President 
of  Columbia  College.  To  quote  his  language,  "  from  its 
origin  to  the  commencement  of  this  century,  and  to  a 
more  recent  date,  the  Chamber  was  called  upon,  alike 
by  the  authorities  of  the  City,  of  the  State  and  of  the 
nation,  for  its  advice  and  opinions  on  questions  sup- 
posed to  be  specially  within  its  cognizance  —questions 
of  quarantine,  of  public  health  and  cleanliness,  the 
laws  of  trade,  of  currency,  the  effect  of  inspection 
laws,  ot  high  and  low  duty,  and  of  bankruptcy  laws," 
and  for  the  last  half  century  every  great  question 
affecting  commerce,  the  finances  and  the  currency, 
which,     the     country     has     been     called     upon     to 


26 

confront,  have  been  discussed  by  the  Chamber,  and 
through  its  resolutions  and  reports  decided  in  a  way 
which  has  contributed  to  their  solution. 

The  Chamber  has  thus  become  an  integral  factor  in 
the  life  of  the  nation,  in  the  development  of  the  State, 
and  in  the  progress  of  our  imperial  City.  Undoubtedly 
the  crisis  of  the  Civil  War  gave  a  new  birth  to  the 
Chamber  and  proved  its  complete  loyalty  to  the  country, 
and  the  questions  which  have  arisen  in  our  own  day 
and  generation  have  been  of  such  vital  importance  as 
to  impose  upon  the  Chamber  a  new  sense  of  responsi- 
bility and  a  proper  realization  of  its  potent  influence 
in  the  final  decision  of  all  questions,  either  of  a  local  or 
a  national  character. 

We  have  only  to  recall  its  ])osition  on  the  frequently 
recurring  financial  heresies — legel  tender  paper  money 
— of  repudiation — inflation  and  the  unlimited  coinage 
of  silver,  to  realize  the  invaluable  influence  of  its  dis- 
cussions and  its  decisions.  And  so  it  has  been  with 
all  public  improvements  from  the  time  of  the  pro- 
position of  De  Witt  Clinton  to  commit  the  State 
to  the  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal  down  to  our  own 
day,  when  the  City,  under  the  influence  of  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  has  undertaken  the  construction  of  a 
system  of  underground  Rapid  Transit,  originated  and 
promoted  by  our  honored  fellow  member,  Abram  S. 
Hewitt,  [applause,]  and  inferior  only  in  cost  and 
importance  to  the  supply  of  pure  water,  which,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  century,  was  advocated  and  brought 
about  by  the  action  of  this  Chamber  and  the  co- 
operation of  its  leading  members  in  the  management 
of  the  Croton  Aqueduct.  In  the  same  manner  the 
City  has  practically  confided  the  supervision  of  the 
Rapid  Transit  construction  to  members  selected  from 
this  Chamber. 

In  all  great  calamities  in  every  part  of  the  world  the 
action,  of  the  Chamber  has   been   prompt  and   nobly 


26 

generous,  but  undoubtedly  its  greatest  service  to  the 
country  was  its  steady  support  of  President  Lincoln 
and  his  illustrious  associates  during  the  Civil  War  for 
the  preservation  of  the  Union  upon  a  firm  basis  of 
equal  rights  and  universal  justice.     [Applause.] 

With  such  a  history  and  such  a  position  in  the 
general  estimation,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the 
present  generation,  who  control  the  Chamber,  should 
desire  that  the  building  to  be  erected  for  its  accommo- 
dation should  be  worthy  of  its  traditions,  influence  and 
achievements,  and  of  its  possibilities  for  future  use- 
fulness and  progress. 

On  behalf  of  the  Chamber,  therefore,  let  me  welcome 
you  to  this  building,  which  we  have  tried  to  make 
worthy  of  the  City,  the  State  and  the  Nation  at  an  era 
when  wealth  has  grown  to  phenomenal  proportions 
and  the  arts  of  peace  have  been  so  cultivated  as  to 
justify  the  declaration  that  New- York  is  "no  mean 
City,"  and  that  this  building  in  which  we  are  as- 
sembled is  worthy  of  its  position  in  the  world  of 
commerce,  which  President  King  has  declared  to  be 
"the  civilizer,  the  refiner  and  liberator  of  the  world." 
"It  is  commerce,"  he  adds,  "which  covers  with  its 
ships  the  subject  sea,  which  sweeps  over  the  globe  for 
materials  to  adorn  beauty,  which  seals  in  its  scabbard 
the  red  sword  of  war  and  cultivates  peace  and  the  arts 
of  peace  ;  which  lights  the  fire  of  the  mechanic  arts, 
and,  last  and  greatest  of  all,  teaches  man  no  longer  to 
bow  down  before  the  idols  of  his  own  creation  on  earth 
or  in  the  skies,  but  looking  erect  to  heaven,  to  walk 
among  his  fellow  men  as  an  equal,  while  walking 
humbly  and  devoutly  before  the  true  and  no  longer 
conjectural  or  unknown  God." 

The  Building  is  not  yet  complete.  Upon  its  front 
will  be  in  places  prepared  for  their  setting  three  marble 
statues  of  citizens  of  the  State  of  New  York,  whose 
careers  and  achievements  will  always  stand  pre-eminent 


97 

among  the  strong  men  who  laid  the  foundation  of  our 
greatness  as  a  people,  and  who  were  the  authors  of  the 
assured  primacy  of  our  country  among  the  nations 
of  the  world,  and  some  of  whose  descendants  have 
been  connected  and  associated  with  the  Chamber. 

Of  ALEXAin)ER  Hamilton,  the  student,  the  soldier, 
the  lawyer,  the  financier,  the  statesman,  who  prepared 
the  framework  of  the  Constitution,  whose  genius 
founded  on  a  rock  the  edifice  of  public  credit,  and 
whose  untimely  death  filled  the  world  with  mourning. 

Of  John  Jay,  the  associate  of  Hamilton  through  all 
the  revolutionary  struggle,  patriot,  legislator,  philan- 
thropist, diplomatist,  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States, 
Governor  of  the  State  of  New- York,  the  consummate 
flower  of  the  manhood  of  the  Revolution  and  of  the 
constructive  era  of  the  Republic  ;  worthy  associate  in 
the  glorious  company  of  the  good  and  great  of  all  times 
and  countries ;  whose  sweetness  and  nobility  of  char- 
acter should  ever  claim  the  admiration  and  excite  the 
emulation  of  the  youth  of  the  land.     [Applause.] 

Of  De  Witt  Clinton,  creator  of  the  Erie  Canal,  by 
which  New-York  has  been  made  great  and  rich  beyond 
the  dreams  of  avarice ;  founder  of  the  public  school 
system  of  tire  State  of  New- York,  by  which  every 
dollar  of  its  property  is  pledged  for  the  free  education 
of  the  young ;  Mayor,  Governor,  and  by  general  judg- 
ment the  fittest  man  of  his  time  for  the  Presidency ; 
appealing  to  our  civic  pride,  and  for  years  to  come 
recalling  the  story  of  the  development  of  the  State  of 
New- York  from  its  humble  beginnings  to  the  magnifi- 
cent achievements  of  the  present  day,  and  the  glorious 
promise  of  future  growth  through  its  internal  com- 
munications, and  their  natural  fruition  in  the  control  of 
the  commerce  of  the  ocean.     [Applause.] 

Can  any  State  or  any  nation,  ancient  or  modern,  pro- 
duce a  more  illustrious  trinity  of  incomparable  patriot- 
ism, genius  and  achievement  ?     Surely  we  are  Justified 


28 

in  recalling  this  imperishable  record,  and  in  no  boastful 
spirit,  though  with  becoming  pride,  point  to  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  and  its  associates  in  the  glorious 
history  of  the  country  as  worthy  of  the  compliment 
which  its  guests  here  to-day  pay  by  their  presence,  and 
for  which,  on  behalf  of  the  Chamber,  I  tender  to  them 
our  grateful  appreciation,     [Applause.] 

Fellow  Members  :  With  such  a  history  and  such 
an  inheritance,  what  will  be  our  pledge  as  to  the  future 
as  we  dedicate  this  building  to  the  honorable  calling  of 
commerce  and  trade.  Let  us  not  forget  our  increased 
duties  and  responsibilities.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  in  the 
future  as  in  the  past  we  shall  live  up  to  the  traditions 
of  the  Chamber,  as  exemplified  in  the  lives  and  charac- 
ters of  the  eminent  merchants  who  have  preceded  us, 
some  of  whose  portraits  now  adorn  these  walls,  and 
whose  voices  still  speak  to  us  in  the  words  of  Scrip- 
ture, "Be  not  weary  in  well  doing;  for  in  due  season 
ye  shall  reap  if  ye  faint  not."     [Great  applause.] 

The  Peesident. — Fellow  members,  gentlemen  and 
guests,  I  have  the  great  honor  to  introduce  to  you 
the  Honorable  Grover  Cleveland,  Ex-f  resident  of 
the  United  States,  who  will  now  address  you.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

ADDRESS   BY    THE  HONOEABLE  GEOVEE  CLEVELAND,  EX- 
PEESIDENT  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Gentlemen  :  It  is  a  curious  fact  that,  although  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New- York  has 
sturdily  and  usefully  lived  for  more  than  a  hundred  and 
thirty  years,  we  are  celebrating  to-day  its  first  possession 
of  a  permanent  home.  This  circumstance  has,  however, 
a  meaning  and  significance  quite  in  keeping  with  the  dis- 
position and  methods  of  the  organization.    Its  purposes 


have  been  so  practical,  and  the  occasions  for  its  nseful 
and  beneficial  work  have  been  so  constant,  that  it  has 
been  abundantly  content  to  make  a  career  and  add 
lustre  to  its  name  before  providing  for  itself  a  local 
habitation  ;  but  no  architectural  finish  and  no  ornate 
decoration  befits  this  beautiful  edifice  so  well  as  the 
bright  coloring  reflected  from  the  splendid  achieve- 
ments proudly  borne  by  those  who  now  enter  upon  its 
occupancy. 

It  need  not  surprise  us  if  the  popular  estimate  of  this 
business  organization  should  fail  to  take  into  account 
all  that  it  has  done  to  promote  high  and  patriotic  pur- 
poses not  always  related,  in  a  narrow  sense,  to  Com- 
merce. No  associated  body  of  our  citizens  felt  more 
deeply  and  effectively  the  throbbing  of  patriotism  and 
devotion  to  country  when  our  Government  was  threat- 
ened by  armed  rebellion  ;  its  protest  and  aid  was  imme- 
diately forthcoming  when,  afterwards,  an  insidious 
attack  was  made  upon  our  financial  integrity  through 
an  attempted  debasement  of  our  currency  ;  from  no 
quarter  has  a  more  earnest  and  insistent  demand  been 
heard  for  the  adjustment  of  international  disputes  by 
arbitration ;  its  espousal  of  the  cause  of  business  edu- 
cation among  our  people  has  been  hearty  and  practical ; 
it  has  advocated  enlarged  reciprocity  of  business  re- 
lations between  nations,  and  the  removal  of  their  vexa- 
tions hindrances ;  and  last,  but  by  no  means  least^  it 
has  promptly  and  with  an  open  hand  relieved  distress 
and  alleviated  disaster.  Such  incidents  as  these  illus- 
trate the  organization's  beneficent  accomplishments  in 
the  advancement  of  civilization  and  in  furtherance  of 
the  improvement  of  humanity.  This  occasion  most 
palpably  and  prominently  suggests  the  stupendous 
evolution  of  the  enormous  commerce  of  to-day  from 
the  beginnings  of  trade,  when  the  brothers  of  Joseph 
went  down  into  Egypt  to  buy  corn,  and  since  Tyre  and 
Sidon  rose  and  fell.     From  the  littleness  of  trade  and 


80 

barter,  limited  to  man's  narrow  necessities,  or  often 
arising  from  the  needs  of  aggressive  or  subjugating  war, 
there  has  been  developed  an  agency  which  has  not 
only  made  the  activities  of  business  as  wide  as  the 
world  in  scope  and  volume,  but  which  peacefully  leads 
the  way  to  brotherhood  among  the  most  distantly  sepa- 
rated peoples,  points  out  the  path  of  universal  civiliza- 
tion, and  fixes  for  the  nations  of  the  earth  the  standard 
of  national  greatness.     [Applause.] 

It  is,  however,  when  we  consider  how  large  and 
important  a  place  in  this  evolution  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  the  State  of  New- York  has  occupied 
during  its  long  life,  and  when,  in  the  midst  of  these 
splendid  surroundings,  we  recall  its  day  of  small 
things,  that  we  feel  we  are  face  to  face  with  an  especial 
growth  in  organized  usefulness  near  at  home,  and  so 
related  to  us  that  we  may  all  claim  a  share  in  the  pride 
and  satisfaction  to  which  it  gives  birth.  We  know  that 
those  who  in  1770  applied  to  King  Geoege  the  Third 
for  a  charter  incorporating  a  Chamber  of  Commerce 
were,  in  that  instrument,  described  as  "  A  great  number 
of  merchants  in  our  City  of  New- York  in  America, 
who  have,  by  voluntary  agreement,  associated  them- 
selves for  the  laudable  purpose  of  promoting  the  trade 
and  commerce  of  our  said  province  ;"  and  we  wonder 
whether  it  ever  entered  into  the  imagination  of  those 
merchants  that  they  were  laying  the  foundations  of  an 
organization  which  at  any  time  in  its  future  would  be 
able  to  point  to  such  noble  achievements  as  are  to-day 
found  among  the  cherished  possessions  of  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New- York.  [Applause.] 
We  read  the  statement  in  their  charter  that  this  "  great 
number  of  merchants"  were  "sensible  that  numberless 
inestimable  benefits  have  accrued  to  mankind  from  com- 
merce, that  they  are  in  proportion  to  their  greater  or 
lesser  application  to  it,  more  or  less  opulent  and  potent 
in  all  countries,  and  that  the  enlargement  of  trade  will 


31 

vastly  increase  the  value  of  real  estates  as  well  as  the 
general  opulence  of  our  said  Colony;"  and  we  wonder 
whether  they  had  a  hint  or  conception  that  their  suc- 
cessors in  this  day  and  generation  would  not  only  show 
a  most  glorious  record  of  their  success  in  aid  of  giving 
"the  numberless  inestimable  benefits  of  Commerce  to 
mankind,"  bnt  that  this  record  would  be  gained  under 
the  inspiration  of  aims  and  purposes  higher  and  better 
than  the  mere  increase  of  the  value  of  real  estate,  or 
the  opulence  of  their  City  and  State.  We  read  the 
requirement  in  this  charter  that  the  meetings  of  the 
corporation  shall  be  held  "in  the  great  room  of  the 
building  commonly  called  the  Exchange,  situate  at  the 
lower  end  of  the  street  called  Broad  street,  in  the  said 
City  of  New- York ;"  and  we  wonder  how  large  that 
great  room  was,  and  whether  the  wildest  fancy  of  the 
incorporators  of  1770  could  have  pictured  a  future 
home  for  their  Chamber  of  Commerce  as  magnificent  as 
this. 

In  considering  the  evolution  of  commerce  from  small 
trade  and  barter,  one  of  its  incidents  which  should  im- 
press us,  perhaps,  more  than  all  others,  is  the  elimina- 
tion in  this  process  of  evolution  of  the  meanness  and 
over- reaching  greed  which  petty  trade  so  frequently 
attracts  and  fosters.  They  were  little  traders  and  petty 
money  changers  who  were  driven  from  the  courts  of  the 
Temple  of  Jerusalem,  charged  with  making  the  place  of 
their  assemblage  a  den  of  thieves.  Of  course,  it  cannot 
be  said  that  either  then  or  now  the  amount  of  trade 
should  in  every  case  fix  the  character  of  the  trader  ;  but 
it  is  nevertheless  true  that  the  commercial  organizations 
of  to-day  cultivate  a  broad  spirit  of  business  fairness 
and  develop  merchants  and  traders  whose  word  is  as 
good  as  their  bond,  whose  dealings  are  open  and  honest, 
and  whose  business  assemblages  are  guarded  and  con- 
trolled by  the  exactions  of  probity  and  uprightness. 

If  we  justly  appeciate  what  these  things  mean,  we 


32 

shall  realize  that  commerce  has  done  an  immense  service 
to  humanity,  by  enlarging  within  its  wide  influence  the 
acceptance  of  the  laws  of  honest  dealing  among  civilized 
communities,  and  by  curbing  man's  besetting  sins  of 
selfishness  and.  greed. 

We  shall  thereupon  be  led  to  apprehend  the  especial 
benefits  in  a  moral  sense  that  have  accrued  to  our  own 
countrymen  from  the  work  and  example  of  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New- York,  and  of  kindred 
institutions  scattered  throughout  our  land.     They  have 
brought  together  a  vast  number  of  our  citizens  and 
made  the  American  merchant,  who,  too  great  to  be 
mean,  has,  by  bold  enterprise  and  brave  venture,  chal- 
lenged the  admiration  of  the  world  ;  equally  as  impor- 
tant as  this  in  its  moral  complexion  and  significance, 
they  have,  by  the  adoption  and  enforcement  of  rules 
for  their  government,  illustrated  to  a  people  apt  to 
chafe  under  enforced  restraint,  how  usefully  they  them- 
selves may  voluntarily  restrain  and  regulate  their  con- 
duct ;  and  beyond  all,  they  have  directly  and  by  exam- 
ple leavened  the  mass  of  our  citizenship  with  a  love  of 
scrupulous  honor,  and  largely  contributed  to  the  preser- 
vation of  true  American  devotion  to  fair  play.     [Ap- 
plause.]   Do  I  exaggerate  when  I  say  that  all  this 
amounts  to  the  elevation  of  our  national  character,  and, 
if  I  speak  within  bounds,  may  we  not  put  to  the  credit 
of  commerce  the  gift  to  our  people  of  a  steadying  force 
more  than  ever  needed  in  these  days,  if  we  are  to  stem 
the  tide  of  misleading  influences  and  dangerous  tenden- 
cies ?     [Applause.] 

What  I  have  said  must  not  be  understood  as  in  the 
least  intimating  that  commerce  should  be  an  altruistic 
or  benevolent  affair,  managed  on  lines  of  amiability 
and  concession.  Such  a  conception  would  be  absurdly 
at  fault.  Commerce  is  born  of  enterprise ;  and  enter- 
prise in  this  busy,  bustling  age,  is  born  of  struggle  and 
competition.    But  the  struggle  and  competition  need 


33 

not  be  to  the  death.  Alertness  and  keenness  in  secur- 
ing business  opportunities  does  not  by  any  means  im- 
port unmindfulness  of  all  else  save  ruthfulness  and 
ravenous  snatching. 

I  have  attempted  to  suggest  how  practical  business 
activity  can  be  mingled  with  enlightenment  and  social 
betterment,  and  how  commercial  organizations  have 
already  woven  them  together.  They  are  estopped  from 
disclaiming  their  obligation  to  continue  the  work.  It 
rests  with  them  not  only  to  enlarge  and  strengthen  by 
increased  enterprise  the  fabric  they  have  thus  produced, 
but  to  make  it  brighter  and  more  beautiful  by  adding 
to  it  a  larger  infusion  of  that  which  touches  the  welfare 
of  mankind  in  every  moral  and  social  phase  and  condi- 
tion. 

It  may,  therefore,  be  justly  said  that  commerce,  by 
what  it  has  already  done,  by  what  lies  yet  in  its  path 
undone,  and  by  what  it  is  able  to  do,  has  created  for 
itself  a  mission  which  cannot  be  fulfilled  by  increased 
effort  directed  solely  to  gaining  mere  business  advan- 
tages. This  mission  does  not  exact  an  abatement  of 
commercial  struggle  and  competition  ;  but  it  so  far  fixes 
their  limit  as  to  enjoin  that  with  such  struggle  and  com- 
petition there  shall  also  be  willing  co-operation  in  an 
endeavor  to  promote  every  beneficial  purpose  which 
commerce  can  draw  within  its  sphere. 

This  mission  was  impressively  recognized  and  its 
obligations  fully  confessed  not  many  months  ago,  when 
representatives  of  the  commerce  of  the  United  States 
met  in  delightful  hospitality  and  brotherhood  the 
leaders  of  the  commercial  organizations  of  Great 
Britain. 

It  was  the  President  of  the  London  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce who  said  :  "  Working  together  for  the  common 
good  of  all  mankind  we  may  keep  the  door  open  for 
trade  ;  we  may  spread  civilization,  protect  the  oppressed 
and  establish  peace  among  the  nations."     [Applause.] 


34 

It  was  the  President  of  the  Association  of  Chambers 
of  Commerce  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain 
who  said:  "We  have  the  highest  authority  for  saying 
that  blessed  are  the  peacemakers.  I  sometimes  think 
that  commerce  has  done  even  more  than  religion  in  this 
respect.  Differences  of  religion  sometimes  separate 
nations,  but  commerce  is  never  militant.  It  binds  us 
together  in  links  of  gold  like  marriage  rings." 

It  was  the  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of 
the  State  of  New- York  who  voiced  the  sentiment  of 
every  conscientious  American,  and  every  true-hearted 
man,  when  he  said :  "  Our  only  rivalry  exists  in  seeing 
how  we  can  emulate  each  other  in  doing  those  things 
which  tend  for  civic  righteousness  and  truth.  Banding 
ourselves  together  hand  in  hand,  shoulder  to  shoulder, 
heart  beating  with  heart,  let  us  emulate  one  another  in 
endeavoring  to  extend  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  the 
blessings  or  our  civil  and  religious  liberty,  to  tell  the 
world  of  the  holy  brotherhood  of  man."     [Applause.] 

Such  lofty  and  cheering  expressions  as  these  heard  in 
the  atmosphere  of  commerce  are  not  less  gratifying 
because  they  are  in  contrast  with  harsher  doctrines  and 
methods  which  have  sometimes  been  its  close  com- 
panions. As  the  pioneer  of  colonization  and  expansion 
sordidly  undertaken  in  its  interest.  Commerce  has  in 
other  days  had  justly  laid  at  its  door  cruel  aggression 
and  ruthless  disregard  of  human  rights  in  regions 
where,  to  use  the  language  of  an  apologist,  "the  welfare 
of  the  inhabitants  of  these  possessions  is  subordinate 
to  the  strategic  or  commercial  purpose  for  which  they 
are  held."  If  any  measure  of  restitution  or  compen- 
sation has  fallen  due  from  commerce  to  humanity  on 
this  score  we  know  that  its  full  acquittance  has  been 
made  or  is  forthcoming ;  and  we  certainly  should  have 
no  cause  to  fear  that  a  like  guilty  responsibility  will  be 
again  incurred. 

Commercialism  is  a  word  we  often  hear  in  these  days 


38 

when  an  attempt  is  made  to  describe  certain  political 
and  economic  phases  of  onr  national  tendencies,  which 
are  greatly  lamented  by  good  people  who  are  solicitous 
for  our  country's  welfare.  It  has  always  seemed  to  me 
that  the  meaning  attached  to  this  word  lacks  detinite- 
ness.  If  it  is  used  to  define  a  desire  to  accumulate 
wealth  not  only  for  the  gratification  of  individual 
wishes,  but  in  full  recognition  of  the  duties  and  obliga- 
tions to  others  which  the  possession  of  wealth  imposes, 
we  need  not  complain  of  such  use. 

With  our  conception  of  what  commerce  is  and  ought 
to  be,  we  have,  however,  cause  of  complaint  when  the 
word  "commercialism"  is  used  as  descriptive  of  sordid 
money-getting,  and  of  the  conduct  of  those  who  have  been 
characterized  by  a  thoughtful  and  philosophical  writer 
in  these  words:  "Sometimes,  however,  with  the  very 
rich  and  without  any  ulterior  motive,  money-making 
for  its  own  sake  becomes  the  absorbing  interest.  They 
can  pursue  it  with  great  advantage,  for,  as  has  been 
often  said,  nothing  makes  money  like  money  ;  and  the 
possession  of  an  immense  capital  gives  innumerable 
facilities  for  increasing  it.  The  collecting  passion  takes 
this  form.  They  come  to  care  more  for  money  than  for 
anything  money  can  purchase,  though  less  for  money 
than  for  the  interest  and  excitement  of  getting  it. 
Speculative  enterprise  with  its  fluctuations,  uncertain- 
ties and  surprises,  become  their  strongest  interest  and 
their  greatest  amusement." 

Surely  commerce  deserves  better  treatment  than  to  be 
accused  of  any  relationship  to  such  behavior  as  this. 

These  exercises,  recalling  so  forcibly  the  growth  of 
American  commerce^  in  world  wide  influence  abroad, 
and  in  usefulness  and  beneficence  at  home,  cannot  fail 
to  be  of  interest  to  all  our  countrymen  ;  but  the  citizens  of 
the  greatest  of  our  States  and  of  our  imperial  City,  with 
all  they  have  to  make  them  proud  and  happy,  must 
especially  congratulate  themselves  upon  the  association 


36 

of  their  State  and  City  with  the  fame  and  honor  which 
have  been  wrought  out  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
of  the  State  of  New- York.     [Great  applause.] 

The  President. — Gentlemen,  I  have  now  the  great 
pleasure  in  saying  to  you  that  Mr.  Roosevelt,  the  Presi- 
dent of  this  great  country,  [applause,]  will  say  a  few 
words  to  you,  although  he  did  not  expect  to  do  so.  He 
expected  this  evening  to  favor  us  with  an  address,  but 
he  has  consented  to  speak  a  few  words  of  welcome  now, 
and  I  am  sure  we  will  be  gratified.  [The  audience  rose 
and  greeted  the  President  with  great  applause.] 

speech    by    THEODORE  ROOSEVELT,  PRESIDENT   OF  THE 
UNITED   STATES. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  :  As  I  am  to  speak 
to  you  this  evening,  I  shall  now  simply  say  a  word  of 
greeting  to  you  and  to  your  guests.  I  have  been  asked 
here  as  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  nation,  and  so  I  can 
speak  not  merely  on  your  behalf  but  on  behalf  of  our 
people  as  a  whole  in  greeting  and  thanking  for  their 
presence  here  those  representatives  of  foreign  countries, 
who  have  done  us  the  honor  and  pleasure  of  being 
present  to-day.  [Applause.]  I  greet  the  Ambassador, 
whose  approaching  departure  we  so  sincerely  regret ; 
[applause  ;]  the  Ambassador  to  whom,  on  his  advent, 
we  extended  such  hearty  greetings,  [applause,]  and  the 
special  representatives  of  those  great  friendly  civilized 
nations  with  whom  we  intend  to  be  knit  ever  closer  by 
ties  of  commercial  and  social  good  will  in  the  future. 
[Great  applause.]  And  now,  gentlemen,  having  greeted 
your  guests  on  behalf  of  you,  I  greet  you  in  the  name 
of  the  people,  not  merely  because  you  stand  for  com- 
mercial success,  but  because  this  body  has  been  able  to 


37 

show  that  the  greatest  commercial  success  can  square 
with  the  immutable  and  eternal  laws  of  decent  and 
right  living  and  of  fair  dealing  between  man  and  man. 
[Great  applause.] 

The  entire  audience  again  rose  and  gave  three  cheers 
for  President  Roosevelt. 

The  President. — Gentlemen,  we  expected  to  have 
with  us  to-day  the  Governor  of  this  Empire  State,  but 
he  is  unavoidably  detained ;  however,  I  have  great 
pleasure  in  introducing  to  you  the  Honorable  Seth 
Low,  the  Mayor  of  this  imperial  City.     [Applause.] 

speech  by  the  honorable  seth  low,  mayor  of  the 
city  of  new-york. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  :  The  history  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New- York  is  a 
part  of  the  story  of  our  State  and  nation.  Founded  in 
Fraunoes'  Tavern,  in  1768,  while  New- York  was  still  a 
colony,  the  activities  of  the  Chamber  form  an  important 
chapter  in  the  history  of  the  City  of  New- York  from 
that  day  to  this.  You  have  heard  how  the  Chamber 
has  been  influential  in  securing  for  this  City  and  for 
our  State  the  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal,  the  erec- 
tion of  our  water  works  and  the  development  of  our 
rapid  transit  system.  These  are  only  conspicuous  illus- 
trations of  a  service  that  has  been  unending  since  the 
formation  of  the  Chamber  in  1768.  I  am  here  to-day, 
sir,  to  acknowledge,  in  the  name  of  the  City  of  New- 
York,  the  great  services  of  the  Chamber  to  the  City,  and 
to  thank  you  for  them.  The  Chamber  naturally  has 
contributed  during  all  its  history  to  the  development  of 
tjie  commerce  of  this  port  and  to  the  commerce  of  the 


88 

country.  I  am  here,  sir,  to  say  to  you,  in  the  name  of 
the  City,  that  the  City  appreciates  the  great  importance 
of  your  services  in  the  interest  of  our  commerce,  and  to 
assure  you  that  the  City  is  ready  now,  as  it  always  has 
been,  to  do  everything  in  its  power  to  co-operate  with 
you  in  developing  the  commercial  facilities  of  the  port 
and  City  of  New- York.     [Applause.] 

A  single  illustration  may  interest  you  of  the  changes 
that  come  about  in  the  course  of  years.  Twenty-five  or 
thirty  years  ago  people  believed  that  the  shape  of  the 
Island  of  Manhattan  was  such  that  it  was  the  best  of 
policy  to  create  land  wherever  it  was  possible.  At  the 
present  time  the  City  of  New- York  is  spending  millions 
of  dollars  to  make  piers,  for  which  we  have  to  dredge 
out  the  land  formerly  made  in  order  to  secure  sufficient 
length  for  the  modern  vessels.  We  are  building  now 
piers  800  feet  in  length,  and,  since  they  have  been 
planned,  we  have  been  told  that  they  must  be  made 
a  thousand  feet  in  length,  if  they  are  to  accommodate 
the  vessels  of  five  years  from  now,  and  I  hope  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  and  the  other  officers  of  the 
Government  who  are  here  will  remember  that  fact, 
[laughter,]  and  permit  us  to  extend  our  pier  line  out 
into  the  river  sufficiently  to  make  the  piers  of  the 
needed  length. 

But  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  has  hot  limited  its 
activity  either  to  the  promotion  of  public  enterprise  or 
of  matters  commercial.  It  has  illustrated  on  every 
occasion  a  patriotism  and  a  public  spirit  that  has  been 
an  object  lesson  to  the  whole  population  of  the  City. 
Two  things,  indeed,  seem  to  me  characteristic  of 
the  Chamber.  Although  primarily  a  commercial 
body,  the  influence  of  the  Chamber  has  been  felt 
in  almost  every  direction  in  which  patriotism  and 
public  spirit  could  find  a  field  for  enterprise.  Dur- 
ing the  trying  times  of  our  Civil  War,  the  Chamber 
never  flagged  in  its  efforts  to  support  the  Government ; 


39 

and  whenever  the  City  of  New- York  has  been  con- 
fronted with  exceptional  perils,  the  members  of  the 
Chamber  have  been  in  the  forefront  of  the  battle  for  the 
redemption  of  the  City.  Whenever  pestilence  and  dis- 
aster have  overwhelmed  any  portion  of  our  country,  or 
whenever  exceptional  distress  abroad  has  made  appeal 
to  the  sympathies  of  our  people,  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce has  taken  the  lead  in  sending  relief  to  the  suffer- 
ing and  the  afflicted.  It  is  natural  that  a  body  made 
up  of  commercial  men  should  give  uninterrupted  atten- 
tion to  the  distinctly  commercial  and  financial  problems 
of  the  country.  This  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  has 
done  from  the  beginning,  with  an  intelligence  as  note- 
worthy as  the  public  spirit  that  has  animated  it ;  but  it 
will  also  be  clear,  from  what  I  have  said,  that  the  activi- 
ties of  the  Chamber  have  not  been  confined  within  these 
narrow  bounds,  but  that  they  have  broadened  out, 
without  effort,  precisely  as  the  influences  of  commerce 
are  felt,  in  a  thousand  directions,  as  a  force  making  for 
civilization. 

It  is  also  characteristic  of  the  Chamber,  that  while  it  has 
encouraged  every  good  work,  and  while  its  membership 
has  established  universities  and  colleges  and  hospitals 
and  libraries,  and  has  contributed  to  every  agency  that 
ministers  to  the  enrichment  of  our  national  life,  it  is  only 
now  that  the  Chamber  is  providing  for  itself  a  home  of 
its  own.  Every  one  must  be  glad  that  the  Chamber  is 
at  last  to  be  suitably  housed,  but  it  is  to  me,  as  the  son 
of  a  former  President  of  the  Chamber,  an  exceptional 
pleasure  to  be  permitted  to  bring  to  the  officers  and 
members  of  the  Chamber,  and  especially  to  all  who 
have  been  closely  identified  with  the  erection  of  this 
building  in  which  we  are  now  assembled,  a  message  of 
congratulation  and  good  will  in  the  name  of  the  City 
of  New- York. 

I  can  give  to  the  Chamber  no  better  wish  than  that, 
as  time  fills  this  building  with  the  memories  and  asso* 


40 

ciations  that  shall  make  it  precious  to  the  merchants 
who  assemble  here,  the  ancient  spirit  of  public  service, 
which  has  been  so  characteristic  of  the  Chamber 
throughout  its  history,  may  remain  so  essential  a  part 
of  the  atmosphere  of  this  building  as  to  make  and  keep 
it  a  source  of  pride  to  the  people  of  the  City.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

The  Peesident. — ^The  ceremonies  will  now  be  brought 
to  a  close,  and  I  will  ask  the  Reverend  Dr.  Dix  to  pro- 
nounce the  benediction. 


BENEDICTION  BT   THE  KEVEEEND  MOEGAN  DIX,    D.    D. 

To  the  Lord's  gracious  mercy  and  protection  we  com- 
mend you.  The  Lord  bless  you  and  keep  you.  The 
Lord  make  His  face  to  shine  upon  you  and  be  gracious 
unto  you.  The  Lord  lift  up  the  light  of  His  counte- 
nance upon  you  and  give  you  peace,  both  now  and 
forever  more.    Amen. 


BANQUET  IN  HONOR  OF  THE  GUESTS 


WHO  ATTENDED  THE 


OPENING    OF  THE    BUILDING 


OF  THE 


CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE. 


The  Banquet  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  honor 
of  the  guests  who  attended  the  Dedicatory  Ceremonies 
on  the  Opening  of  the  Building  of  the  Chamber  was 
held  at  the  Waldorf-Astoria,  Fifth  Avenue,  Thirty- 
Third  and  Thirty-Fourth  Streets,  Tuesday  Evening, 
November  the  Eleventh,  Nineteen  Hundred  and  Two, 
at  half- past  six  o'clock. 

Mr.  MoREis  K.  Jesup,  President  of  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  presided : 

THE  DECORATIONS  OP  THE    BANQUET  HALL. 

The  Banquet  Hall  was  transformed  for  the  occasion 
into  a  scene  of  beauty.  Among  its  features  was  an 
elaborate  exhibition  of  colors,  coats- of -arms,  flags  and 
crests  of  the  prominent  nations,  in  honor  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  countries  who  attended. 

The  background  of  the  speakers'  table  at  the  head  of 


42 

the  Banquet  Hall  showed  at  its  centre  a  magnificent 
specimen  of  silk  and  gold  hand  embroidered  work 
of  large  size,  in  the  form  of  the  coat-of-arms  of  the 
United  States,  the  same  being  fl.anked  to  the  right  and 
left  respectively  by  the  coats-of-arms  of  France,  Russia 
and  Mexico  and  Great  Britain,  Germany  and  Italy,  in 
the  form  of  banners. 

These  coats-of-arms  were  interspersed  with  clusters 
of  flags  of  the  nations  named,  all  in  silk  and  punctu- 
ated at  symmetrical  intervals,  with  gracefully  draped 
American  flags  of  large  size,  the  flag  of  the  United 
States  predominating  in  the  display. 

To  represent  all  the  States  of  our  country,  the  seals 
in  the  form  of  elaborately  embroidered  silk  banners,  were 
placed  at  appropriate  intervals  about  the  side  walls  and 
balconies,  on  a  background  of  very  large  American 
flags  falling  in  graceful  folds  and  covering  and  filling  in 
completely  the  spaces  between.  The  pilasters  about 
the  beautiful  Banquet  Hall,  lending  themselves  most 
admirably  to  the  artistic  treatment  of  America's  fore- 
most decorators,  showed  clusters  of  silken  American 
flags  on  staffs  with  gold-tipped  spears,  the  prodigal  pro- 
fusion of  the  same  being  enhanced  and  apparently  mul- 
tiplied to  endless  extent  by  their  reflection  in  the  many 
crystal  mirrors  with  which  the  Banquet  Hall  abounds. 

Supporting  and  centering  in  these  clusters  of  silk 
flags  were  large  golden  eagles  with  outspread  wings, 
and  grasping  in  their  talons  the  supporting  cords  of 
large  silk  banners  showing  the  crests  of  the  other 
States  and  Territories  of  the  Union. 

The  boxes  as  well  as  the  rear  wall  and  the  great 
windows  of  the  Banquet   Hall    were    draped    in  the  * 


4a 

national  colors,  with  shields  centred  in  silk  flags  stud- 
ding their  folds.  A  grand  centrepiece  was  placed  directly 
opposite  the  speakers'  table,  thus  bringing  it  face  to 
face  with  the  great  seal  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
which,  placed  directly  over  and  back  of  the  Chair- 
man, occupied  the  position  of  honor  and  formed  the 
grand  centre  of  the  elaborate  decorations. 

THE  MENU. 

The  illustration  which  formed  the  frontispiece  of  the 
menu  was  a  fine  piece  of  die,  plate  and  hand  work.  At 
the  top  of  which  was  the  seal  of  the  Chamber,  with  the 
caduceus,  and  ivy  leaves  of  friendship,  grouped  about 
which  were  the  flags  of  the  United  States,  Great  Britain, 
France  and  Germany,  in  honor  of  the  gaests. 

At  the  base  was  a  steel  plate  engraving  of  the  build- 
ing of  the  Chamber. 

The  inscription  read  : 

BANQUET  BY  THE 

CHAMBEK   OF   COMMERCE, 

OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW-YOEK, 

IN  HONOR  OF  THE  GUESTS  WHO  ATTENDED  THE 

DEDICATOBY   CEREMONIES   ON   THE    OPENING  OF  THE 

BUILDING  OF  THE  CHAMBER, 

NUMBER  SIXTY-FIVE  LIBERTY- STREET,    NEW- YORK. 

THE  WALDORF-ASTORIA, 
TUESDAY  EVENING, 


NOVEMBER  THE  ELEVENTH, 
NINETEEN  HUNDRED   AND   TWO. 


In  the  ornamental  initial  letter  C,  the  shield  of  the 
arms  of  the  State  of  New-York  is  seen,  entwined  about 
with  grapes,  suggesting  the  feast. 


44 


THE  MEDAL. 


The  medal  struck  to  commemorate  the  opening  of 
the  building  of  the  Chamber  and  in  honor  of  the 
guests  who  attended  the  dedicatory  ceremonies  was 
three  inches  in  diameter  and  of  proportionate  weight  and 
thickness.  On  the  obverse  were  two  female  figures — a 
North  American  Indian  girl  and  Europa — representing 
America  and  Europe.  In  the  background  was  a  globe 
and  above  this  shone  the  caduceus — the  rod  of  Mercury, 
god  of  commerce,  and  are  also  shown  with  the  steamer 
St.  Louis  and  a  locomotive.  All  were  surrounded  by  a 
wreath  of  laurel — indicating  success — and  oak — signify- 
ing strength — with  horns- of- plenty  and  the  shields  of 
the  United  States,  Great  Britain,  France  and  Germany. 
Around  all  was  the  legend,  "In  honor  of  the  guests 
who  attended  the  dedicatory  ceremonies  on  the  opening 
of  the  building  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce." 

On  the  reverse  was  a  fine  representation  of  the 
building  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  with  the  seal  of 
the  Chamber — surrounded  by  the  inscription,  "  to  com- 
memorate the  opening  of  the  building  of  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New- York,  New- York, 
November  11,  1902." 

A  copy  of  the  medal  was  presented  to  each  guest  and 
to  each  member  of  the  Chamber  who  attended  the  Ban- 
quet. 

THE  GUESTS   OF  THE  OHAMBEB  OP  COMMERCE. 

The  guests  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  were  : 

Theodobe  Roosevelt,  President  of  the  United 
States. 


45 

Mr.  Jules  Cambon,  Ambassador  Extraordinary  and 
Plenipotentiary  of  France. 

Sir  Michael  Henry  Herbert,  Ambassador  Extra- 
ordinary and  Plenipotentiary  of  Great  Britain. 

Prince  Hans  Heinrioh  von  Pless,  Special  Repre- 
sentative of  Germany. 

The  Honorable  Leslie  M.  Shaw,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury. 

The  Honorable  Elihu  Root,  Secretary  of  War. 

The  Honorable  Chauncey  M.  Depew,  Senator  of  the 
United  States  from  the  State  of  New- York. 

Rear  Admiral  Albert  S.  Barker,  United  States 
Navy. 

His  Excellency  Benjamin  B.  Odell,  Jr.,  Governor 
of  the  State  of  New- York. 

The  Honorable  Seth  Low,  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New- 
York. 

The  Honorable  Carl  SchuRz,  Honorary  Member  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  Thomas  A.  Edison,  Honorary  Member  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

The  Honorable  Whitelaw  Reid,  Honorary  Member 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  Charles  S.  Smith,  Ex-President  and  Honorary 
Member  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  Hugh  H.  Hanna,  Honorary  Member  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  Alexander  E.  Orr,  Ex-President  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce. 

Sir  Albert  K.  Rollit,  D.  C.  L.,  LL.  D.,  M.  P., 
Chairman  of  the  Delegation  of  the  London  Chamber  of 
Commerce. 


46 

Sir  Vincent  Kennett-Baerington,  Delegate  of  the 
London  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Lieut. -General  J.  W.  Laurie,  M.  P.,  Delegate  of  the 
London  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  H.  C.  Richards,  K.  C,  M.  P.,  Delegate  of  the 
London  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  James  Dixon,  Delegate  of  the  London  Chamber 
of  Commerce. 

Mr.  William  P.  Wood,  Delegate  of  the  London 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  Arthur  Serena,  J.  P.,  Delegate  of  the  London 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  F.  Paithfull  Begg,  Delegate  of  the  London 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Major  S.  Flood  Page,  Delegate  of  the  London 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  John  Hume,  Delegate  of  the  London  Chamber  of 
Commerce. 

Mr.  J.  Y.  Henderson,  Delegate  of  the  London 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  Kenrio  B.  Murray,  Secretary  and  Delegate  of 
the  London  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Mr.  V.  HuGOT,  Delegate  of  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce of  Paris. 

Count  Raoul  Chandon,  Delegate  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  Rheims. 

Mr.  Joseph  Guinet,  Delegate  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  Lyons. 

Mr.  LisoN  PoRTB,  Delegate  of  the  Association  des 
Tissus  of  Paris. 

Mr.  Paul  Heokmann,  Vice-President  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  of  Berlin. 


47 

Mr.  Eeik  Pontoppidan,  Delegate  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  Hamburg. 

Mr.  Francis  Kimbel,   President  of  the  American 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Paris. 

Mr.  Alexander  McFee,  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trade  of  Montreal. 

Sir  Peeoy  Sanderson,   Consul    General  of   Great 
Britain. 

Mr.   Gaston   Velten,    Acting   Consul   General  of 
France. 

Mr.  Karl  Bfenz,  Consul  General  of  Germany. 

Mr,  Nicholas  de  Ladygensky,  Consul  General  of 
Russia. 

Mr.  C.  Clive-Bayley,  Consul  of  Great  Britain. 

Mr.  Alfred  Mosely. 

President  Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  of  Columbia 
University. 

Mr.  Philippe  Bunau-Varilla. 

The  Reverend  Theodore  L.  Cuyler,  D.  D. 

The  Reverend  Henry  Van  Dyke,  D.  D. 

Mr.  George  B.  Cortelyou. 

Mr.  George  Earl  Church. 

Mr.  Henry  E.   Gourd,    President  of    the   French 
Chamber  of  Commerce  in  the  City  of  New- York. 

Mr.  William  Mackenzie,  of  Dundee,  Scotland. 

Mr.  Eastman  Johnson. 

Mr.  William  R.  Willcox. 

Mr.  Paul  Dana. 

Mr.  Charles  R.  Miller. 

Mr.  John  Foord. 

Mr.  St.  Clair  MoKelway. 
Mr.  Henry  M.  Stegman. 

Mr.  PoMBROY  Burton. 


48 

The  Divine  Blessing  was  asked  by  the   Reverend 
Theodoee  L.  Cuylee,  D.  D. 

Shortly  after  nine  o'clock,  the  President  called  the 
assembly  to  order  and  said : 

speech  by  mr.  m0eri8  k.  jesttp,   president  of  the 
chamber  of  commerce. 

Gentlemen  and  Fellow  Members  of  the  Cham- 
ber :  This  has  been  a  red  letter  day  in  our  history.  We 
have  dedicated  to  the  honorable  calling  of  commerce 
and  trade  our  new  building.  We  have  dedicated  our- 
selves in  the  future,  to  do  that  which  is  honest  and 
right.     [Applause.] 

We  have  with  us  here  to-night  our  President. 
[Applause.]  We  have  our  Governor.  [Applause.] 
We  have  with  us  the  Mayor  of  our  City.  We 
have  with  us  the  representatives  of  the  three  great 
nations  of  Europe.  [Applause.]  We  have  with  us  the 
representatives  of  trade  of  Great  Britain,  France 
and  Germany.  [Applause.]  We  have  with  us  those 
who  are  at  the  head  of  our  financial  affairs,  our 
Treasury  Department,  our  War  Department,  [ap- 
plause,] and  we  have  with  us  those  who  are  distin- 
guished in  all  the  civic  walks  of  life,  and  last,  but  not 
least,  we  have  with  us  the  ladies,  [applause,]  the  com- 
panions of  our  lives  and  cheerers  of  our  homes.  [Ap- 
plause.] What  more  do  we  want.  What  more  can  I 
say? 

Gentlemen,  I  will  now  proceed  to  the  business  of 
the  evening,  which  to  me  is  a  very  pleasant  duty,  and, 


4» 

first  of  all,  I  wish  to  read  a  telegram  from  the  Russian 
Ambassador : 

^om  Count  Cassini,  Arribassador  Extraordinary  and 
Plenipotentiary  of  Russia. 

Washington,  D.  C,  November  10,  1902. 
To  President  New-  YorTc  Charriber  of  Commerce^  New- 
York  City  : 
I  regret  immensely  that  a  sudden  indisposition  pre- 
vents me  from  the  pleasure  of  attending  the  inaugu- 
ration of  the  new  building  of  the  New- York  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  but  I  wish  to  express  to  you,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent, on  this  occasion,  my  most  cordial  congratulations, 
and  ask  you  to  convey  to  the  members  my  most  sincere 
wishes  for  the  prosperity  of  this  institution,  which  will 
undoubtedly  successfully  promote  the  interests  of  com- 
merce of  the  United  States  as  well  as  of  other  nations. 
I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  express  my  most 
sincere  hope  that  the  commercial  relations  between 
Russia  and  the  United  States  will  attain  in  the  near 
future  the  development  which  would  be  equal  to  tradi- 
tional sentiments  of  friendship  based  on  mutual  con- 
fidence existing  between  the  two  governments  and  the 
two  countries.  I  feel  confident  to  say  that  on  her  part 
Russia  is,  and  has  always  been,  ready  to  do  all  that  is 
in  her  power  to  attain  this  result,  which  I  consider  to 
be  of  the  utmost  importance  for  the  two  friendly 
nations. 

Count  Cassini, 
Arribassador  of  Russia. 

The  President. — Gentlemen,  we  have  also  received 
cablegrams  from  abroad — congratulations  from  a 
number  of  prominent  Chambers  of  Commerce,  which 
I  will  read : 


60 

From  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Bremen. 

Beemen,  November  11,  1902. 

Accept  our  heartiest  congratulations  on  dedication  of 
new  home.  May  the  good  commercial  relations  which 
have  so  far  existed  between  New- York  and  Bremen 
always  find  powerful  support  in  further  continuance  of 
friendly  co-operation  of  our  Chambers. 

From  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Hamburg. 

Hamburg,  November  11,  1902. 

Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Hamburg  sends  hearty 
congratulations  on  your  festival  of  to-day. 

From  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Frankfort. 

Feankfobt,  November  11,  1902. 

Congratulations  on  dedication  of  new  home.  Wish 
at  all  time  successful  activity  to  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

From  the  American  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Paris. 

Ameeioan  Chambee  of  Commerce, 

Paeis,  November  11,  1902. 

Paris  presents  New- York  Chamber  hearty  congratu- 
lations. Hope  it  will  continue  unbroken  career  of  pros- 
perity, and  always  constitute  important  factor  in 
furtherance  of  trade. 

From  the  American  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Liver- 
pool. 

Liverpool,  November  11,  1902. 

Hon.  Whitelaw  B-eid,  Tribune^  New- York : 

With  grateful  remembrance  of  your  visit   to  our 


CI 

centenary  American  Chamber  Commerce,  Liverpool,  has 
pleasure  in  asking  you  to  express  our  sincere  congratu- 
lations to  the  New- York  Chamber  of  Commerce  on 
entering  its  new  home. 

A.  S.  Hannay, 

President. 
Gbay  Hill, 

Secretary. 

The  President. — Gentlemen,  will  you  fill  your 
glasses  and  rise,  as  I  give  you  the  first  toast  of  the 
evening, 

"The  President  of  the  United  States." 

The  audience  drank  the  toast  standing,  giving  three 
cheers  for  the  President  of  the  United  States ;  also  three 
cheers  for  Theodoee  Roosevelt. 

SPEECH   BY    THEODORE    ROOSEVELT,    PRESIDENT  OF  THE 

united  states. 
Mr.  President,  Gentlemen,  and  you,  the  Guests, 

WHOM    WE   WELCOME    HERE    THIS    EVENING  :     I   do    UOt 

wish  to  speak  to  you  in  the  language  of  idle  compli- 
ment, and  yet  it  is  but  a  bare  statement  of  fact  to 
say  that  nowhere  in  our  country  could  there  be  gath- 
ered an  audience  which  would  stand  as  more  typically 
characteristic  than  this  of  all  those  qualities  and  attri- 
butes which  have  given  us  of  the  United  States  our 
commanding  position  in  the  industrial  world.  [Ap- 
plause.] There  is  no  need  of  my  preaching  to  this 
gathering  the  need  of  combining  efficiency  with  upright 
dealing,  for  as  an  American  and  as  a  citizen  of  New- 
York  I  am  proud  to  feel  that  the  name  of  your  organiza- 
tion carried  with  it  a  guaranty  of  both  ;  [applause  ;]  and 
your  practice  counts  for  more  than  any  preaching  could 


63 

possibly  count.  [Applanse.]  New- York  is  a  City  of 
national  importance,  because  its  position  towards  the  na- 
tion is  unique,  and  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  New- 
York  must  of  necessity  be  an  element  of  weight  in  the 
commercial  and  industrial  welfare  of  the  entire  people. 
[Applause.]  New- York  is  the  great  port  of  entry  for 
our  country — the  port  in  which  centres  the  bulk  of  the 
foreign  commerce  of  the  country — and  her  welfare  is, 
therefore,  no  matter  of  mere  local  or  municipal,  but  of 
national,  concern.  [Applause.]  The  conduct  of  the 
Government  in  dealing  with  all  matters  affecting  the 
financial  and  commercial  relations  of  New- York  must 
continually  take  into  account  this  fact ;  and  it  must  be 
taken  into  account  in  appreciating  the  importance  of 
the  part  played  by  the  New- York  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce.    [Applause.] 

This  body  stands  for  the  triumphs  of  peace,  both  abroad 
and  at  home.  We  have  passed  that  stage  of  national 
development  when  depreciation  of  other  peoples  is  felt 
as  a  tribute  to  our  own.  [Applause.]  We  watch  the 
growth  and  prosperity  of  other  nations,  not  with  hatred 
or  jealousy,  but  with  sincere  and  friendly  good  will. 
[Applause.]  I  think  I  can  say  safely  that  we  have  shown 
by  our  attitude  toward  Cuba,  by  our  attitude  toward 
China,  that  as  regards  weaker  powers,  our  desire  is  that 
they  may  be  able  to  stand  alone,  [applause,]  and  that  if 
they  will  only  show  themselves  willing  to  deal  honestly 
and  fairly  with  the  rest  of  mankind,  we  on  our  side  will 
do  all  we  can  to  help,  not  to  hinder  them.  [Applause.] 
With  the  great  powers  of  the  world  we  desire  no  rivalry 
that  is  not  honorable  to  both  parties.  We  wish  them 
well.  We  believe  that  the  trend  of  the  modern  spirit 
is  ever  stronger  toward  peace,  not  war ;  [applause  ;] 
toward  friendship,  not  hostility,  as  the  normal  interna- 
tional attitude.  [Applause.]  We  are  glad,  indeed,  that 
we  are  on  good  terms  with  all  other  peoples  of  man- 
kind, and  no  effort  on  our  part  shall  be  spared  to  secure 


63 

a  continuance  of  these  relations.  [Applause.]  And 
remember,  gentlemen,  that  we  shall  be  a  potent  factor 
for  peace  largely  in  proportion  to  the  way  in  which  we 
make  it  evident  that  our  attitude  is  due,  not  to  weak- 
ness, not  to  inability  to  defend  ourselves,  [applause,] 
but  to  a  genuine  repugnance  to  wrong-doing,  a  genuine 
desire  for  self-respecting  friendship  with  our  neighbors. 
[Cheers  and  applause.]  The  voice  of  the  weakling  or 
the  craven  counts  for  nothing  when  he  clamors  for 
peace ;  but  the  voice  of  the  just  man  armed  is  potent. 
[Applause.]  We  need  to  keep  in  a  condition  of  pre- 
paredness, especially  as  regards  our  navy,  not  because 
we  want  war,  but  because  we  desire  to  stand  with  those 
whose  plea  for  peace  is  listened  to  with  respectful  atten- 
tion.    [Applause.] 

Important  though  it  is  thai  we  should  have  peace 
abroad,  it  is  even  more  important  that  we  should  have 
peace  at  home.  [Applause  and  cries  of  "Bravo!"] 
You,  men  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  to  whose  efforts 
we  owe  so  much  of  our  industrial  well-being,  can,  and 
I  believe  surely  will,  be  influential  in  helping  toward 
that  industrial  peace  which  can  obtain  in  society  only 
when  in  their  various  relations,  employer  and  employed 
alike  show  not  merely  insistance  each  upon  his  own 
rights,  but  also  regard  for  the  rights  of  others,  and  a 
full  acknowledgment  of  the  interests  of  the  third  party 
— the  public.  [Cries  of  "good"  and  applause.]  It  is 
no  easy  matter  to  work  out  a  system  or  rule  of  conduct, 
whether  with  or  without  the  help  of  the  law-giver,  which 
shall  minimize  that  jarring  and  clashing  of  interests  in 
the  industrial  world  which  cause  so  much  individual 
irritation  and  suffering  at  the  present  day,  and  which, 
at  times,  threatens  baleful  consequences  to  large  por- 
tions of  the  body  politic.  But  the  importance  of  the 
problem  cannot  be  over-estimated,  and  it  deserves  to 
receive  the  careful  thought  of  all  men  such  as  those 
whom  I  am  addressing  to-night.     [Applause.]    There 


54 

should  be  no  yielding  to  wrong ;  but  there  should  most 
certainly  be  not  only  desire  to  do  right  but  a  willing- 
ness each  to  try  to  understand  the  viewpoint  of  his 
fellows,  with  whom,  for  weal  or  for  woe,  his  own  for- 
tunes are  indissolubly  bound.     [Applause.] 

No  patent  remedy  can  be  devised  for  the  solution  of 
these  grave  problems  in  the  industrial  world,  but  we 
may  rest  assured  that  they  can  be  solved  at  all  only  if 
we  bring  to  the  solution  certain  old  time  virtues,  and  if 
we  strive  to  keep  out  of  the  solution  some  of  the  most 
familiar  and  most  undesirable  of  the  traits  to  which 
mankind  has  owed  untold  degredation  and  suffering 
throughout  the  ages.  Arrogance,  suspicion,  brutal  envy 
of  the  well-to-do,  brutal  indifference  toward  those  who 
are  not  well  to  do,  the  hard  refusal  to  consider  the 
rights  of  others,  the  foolish  refusal  to  consider  the 
limit  of  beneficent  action,  the  base  appeal  to  the  spirit 
of  selfish  greed,  whether  it  take  the  form  of  plunder 
of  the  fortunate  or  of  oppression  of  the  unfortunate — 
from  these  and  from  all  kindred  vices  this  nation  must 
be  kept  free  if  it  is  to  remain  in  its  present  position  in 
the  forefront  of  the  peoples  of  mankind.  On  the  other 
hand  good  will  come,  even  out  of  the  present  evils,  if 
we  face  them  armed  with  the  old  homely  virtues  ;  if  we 
show  that  we  are  fearless  of  soul,  cooler  of  head,  and 
kindly  of  heart;  if,  without  betraying  the  weakness 
that  cringes  before  wrong  doing,  we  yet  show  by  deeds 
and  words  our  knowledge  that  in  such  a  government  as 
ours  each  of  us  must  be  in  very  truth  his  brother's 
keeper.     [Applause.] 

At  a  time  when  the  growing  complexity  of  our  sociol 
and  industrial  life  has  rendered  inevitable  the  intrusion 
of  the  State  into  spheres  of  work  wherein  it  formerly 
took  no  part,  and  when  there  is  also  a  growing  tendency 
to  demand  the  illegitimate  and  unwise  transfer  to  the 
Government  of  much  of  the  work  that  should  be  done 
by  private  persons,  singly  or  associated  together,  it  is  a 


56 

pleasure  to  address  a  body  whose  members  possess,  to 
an  eminent  degree,  the  traditional  American  self-reliance 
of  spirit  which  makes  them  scorn  to  ask  from  the 
Government,  whether  of  State  or  of  nation,  anything 
but  a  fair  field  and  no  favor  [applause] — who  confide 
not  in  being  helped  by  others,  but  in  their  own  skill, 
energy  and  business  capacity  to  achieve  success.  The 
first  requisite  of  a  good  citizen  in  this  Republic  of  ours 
is,  that  he  shall  be  able  and  willing  to  pull  his  weight 
[applause] — that  he  shall  not  be  a  mere  passenger, 
[laughter,]  but  shall  do  his  share  in  the  work  that  each 
generation  of  us  finds  ready  to  hand  ;  and,  furthermore, 
that  in  doing  his  work  he  shall  show  not  only  the 
capacity  for  sturdy  self  help,  but  also  self-respecting 
regard  for  the  rights  of  others.     [Great  applause.] 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce,  it  is  no  idle  boast  to  say, 
stands  in  a  pre-eminent  degree  for  those  qualities  which 
make  the  successful  merchant,  the  successful  business 
man,  whose  success  is  won  in  ways  honorable  to  himself 
and  beneficial  to  his  fellows.  [Applause.]  There  are 
very  different  kinds  of  success.  There  is  the  success 
that  brings  with  it  the  seared  soul — the  success 
which  is  achieved  by  wolfish  greed  and  vulpine  cun- 
ning— the  success  which  makes  honest  men  uneasy 
or  indignant  in  its  presence.  Then  there  is  the  other 
kind  of  success — the  success  which  comes  as  the  reward 
of  keen  insight,  of  sagacity,  of  resolution,  of  address, 
combined  with  unflinching  rectitude  of  behavior,  public 
and  private.  [Applause.]  The  first  kind  of  success 
may,  m  a  sense — and  a  poor  sense  at  that — benefit  the 
individual,  but  it  is  always  and  necessarily  a  curse  to 
the  community  ;  whereas,  the  man  who  wins  the  second 
kind,  as  an  incident  of  its  winning,  becomes  a  bene- 
ficiary to  the  whole  commonwealth.  Throughout  its 
history,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  has  stood  for  this 
second  and  higher  kind  of  success.  [Applause.]  It  is, 
therefore,  fitting  that  I  should  come  on  here  as  the 


66 

Chief  Executive  of  the  nation  to  wish  you  well  in  your 
new  home  ;  for  you  belong  not  merely  to  the  City,  not 
merely  to  the  State,  but  to  all  the  country,  and  you 
stand  high  among  the  great  factors  in  building  up  that 
marvelous  prosperity  which  the  entire  country  now 
enjoys.  [Applause.]  The  continuance  of  this  pros- 
perity depends  in  no  small  measure  upon  your  sanity 
and  common  sense,  upon  the  way  in  which  you  combine 
energy  in  action  with  conservative  refusal  to  take  part 
in  the  reckless  gambling  which  is  so  often  bredby,  and 
which  so  inevitably  puts  an  end  to,  prosperity,  [Ap- 
plause.] You  are  men  of  might  in  the  world  of  Ameri- 
can effort ;  you  are  men  whose  names  stand  high  in  the 
esteem  of  our  people  ;  you  are  spoken  of  in  terms  like 
those  used  in  the  long-gone  ages  when  it  was  said  of 
the  Phoenician  cities  that  their  merchants  were  princes. 
Great  is  your  power,  and  great,  therefore,  your  respon- 
sibility. Well  and  faithfully  have  you  met  this  respon- 
sibility in  the  past.  We  look  forward  with  confident 
hope  to  what  you  will  do  in  the  future,  and  it  is  there- 
fore with  sincerity  that  I  bid  you  Godspeed  this  even- 
ing, and  wish  for  you,  in  the  name  of  the  nation,  a 
career  of  ever-increasing  honor  and  usefulness.  [Great 
applause.] 

The  Peesident. — Gentlemen,  the  next  toast  for  the 
evening  is, 

"To  THE  Rulers  of  Nations  represented  at  the 

Banquet." 

I  think  that  toast  is  a  little  too  formal,  and  so  I  take 
the  liberty  of  adding  something  to  it :  "  May  the 
friendship  and  good  will  now  existing  between  the 
United  States  and  the  great  nations  of  Europe  here 
represented  never  be  broken." 


67 

This  toast  will  be  responded  to  by  his  Excellency, 
Mr.  Jules  Cambon,  Ambassador  Extraordinary  and 
Plenipotentiary  of  the  Republic  of  France,  Doyen 
of  the  Diplomatic  Body. 

I  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  Mr.  Jules  Cambon. 
[Applause.] 

SPEECH  BY  HIS  EXCELLENCY  M.  JULES  CAMBON,  AMBAS- 
SADOR EXTRAOEDINARY  AND  PLENIPOTENTIARY  OF 
THE   REPUBLIC    OF   FRANCE. 

Gentlemen  :  On  behalf  of  the  Diplomatic  corps  I  beg 
to  thank  you  for  your  toast  to  the  Sovereigns  and 
Rulers  whose  representatives  are  seated  at  this  table. 

Commerce  is  a  very  strong,  the  strongest  bond  be 
tween  nations,  and  its  wide  extension  is  the  greatest 
guarantee  of  peace. 

From  the  bottom  of  our  hearts  we  wish  to  see  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New- York  carry 
forward  the  gigantic  work  which  has  been  already 
accomplished  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.     [Applause.] 

All  Europe,  and,  allow  me  to  say  so,  especially  all 
France,  will  be  happy  of  anything  that  may  strengthen 
the  ties  of  friendship  which  bind  the  countries  repre- 
sented here  to  the  United  States.     [Applause.] 

The  President. — Gentlemen,  I  propose  to  change 
very  slightly  the  order  of  the  toasts,  and,  before 
proceeding  to  the  next  regular  toast,  I  know  that  you 
would  like  to  hear  from  Sir  Michael  Henry  Herbert, 
[applause,]  the  new  Ambassador  just  come  to  us  from 
our  friend,  Great  Britain,  [applause,]  and  I  will  ask 
him  to  say  a  few  words  to  us  this  evening  and  give  him 
our  welcome.     [Applause.] 


68 


SPEECH  BY  SIR  MICHAEL  HENRY  HERBERT,  AMBASSADOR 
EXTRAORDINARY  AND  PLENIPOTENTIARY  OF  GREAT 
BRITAIN. 

Mr.  President,  Chairman  and  G-entlemen  :  When 
I  landed  in  this  country  a  few  weeks  ago  I  registered  a 
mental  vow  that  I  would  follow  the  precedent  set  by  my 
predecessor  and  never  make  a  speech  as  long  as  I  was 
in  this  country.  [Laughter.]  But  man  proposes  and 
Mr.  Jesup  disposes.  And  I  feel  also  that  I  should 
indeed  be  wanting  in  courtesy  if  I  did  not  return  thanks 
to  you  to-night  for  your  splendid  hospitality,  and  for 
the  reception  which  you  gave  to  me  this  morning, 
which,  I  assure  you,  went  to  my  heart.     [Applause.] 

It  is,  perhaps,  appropriate  that  the  King  of  England's 
representative  should  say  a  few  words  to-night.  We 
heard  this  morning  that  your  charter  was  originally 
granted  to  your  corporation  by  a  King  of  England. 
King  George  III.  The  present  King  of  England  no 
longer  takes  an  official  interest  in  your  corporation, 
[laughter,]  but  I  can  assure  you,  gentlemen,  he  takes  a 
very  friendly  interest  in  it,  as  you  can  tell  by  his  cordial 
reception  of  your  delegates  last  year  when  he  received 
them  at  Windsor.  And  my  presence  here  to  night  is 
intended  to  illustrate  his  good  will  towards  these  United 
States  and  the  interest  taken  in  Great  Britain  in  the 
commercial  prosperity  of  New- York. 

Gentlemen,  I  think  Mr.  Cambon's  admirable  speech 
has  omitted  one  point,  and  that  is  the  gratitude  which 
we  diplomatists  owe  to  you  business  men,  and  I  will  tell 
you  why. 

Commercial  intercourse  promotes  social  intercourse  ; 
social  intercourse  promotes  friendship  ;  and  the  friend- 
ship of  peoples  does  more  than  all  we  diplomatists  to 
bring  countries  together.  As  your  eloquent  Ambas- 
sador in  London,  Mr.  Choate,   [applause,]   of  whom 


59 

yon  may  well  be  proud,  [applause,]  said  last  year,  I  tell 
you  that  commerce  is  the  real  pacifier,  the  peacemaker, 
the  common  and  mutual  blessing  of  all  mankind. 

For  these  reasons,  gentlemen,  we  hold  that  a  diplo- 
matist should  get  into  touch  with  the  business  men 
of  the  conntry  to  which  he  is  accredited,  just  as  much 
as  he  gets  into  touch  with  the  political  men.  [Laugh- 
ter.] I  therefore  trust  that  the  acquaintance  which  we 
have  so  happily  begun  to-night  will  not  be  a  temporary 
one  but  a  permanent  one.     [Applause.] 

I  am  sure  that  I  shall  not  have  many  opportunities  of 
coming  to  New- York  just  now,  for  I  am  leading  in 
Washington,  if  I  may  borrow  a  favorite  expression  of 
the  President,  a  very  strenuous  life,  [applause,]  picking 
up  the  threads  of  the  various  questions  with  which  we 
have  to  deal.  But  I  can  assure  you,  gentlemen,  if  you 
come  to  Washington  and  will  call  at  the  Embassy,  I 
will  give  you  as  hearty  a  welcome  as  you  have  given  me 
here  to-night.     [Applause.] 

The  President. — When  the  Chamber  sent  an  invita- 
tion to  the  German  Ambassador  at  Washington  and 
found  that  he  was  absent  in  Europe,  His  Majesty 
William  II.,  the  German  Emperor,  to  show  his  good  will 
and  friendly  feeling  towards  the  United  States,  ap- 
pointed at  once  as  his  representative  to  come  to  this 
country — almost  in  a  moment's  warning,  and  we  have 
him  here  to-night — Prince  Hans  Heinrioh  von 
Pless,  and  I  have  great  pleasure  in  introducing  him 
to  you.     [Applause.] 

speech  by  prince  HANS  HEINRICH  VON  PLESS. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  :  I  feel  highly 
honored,  indeed,  to  represent  the  Government  of  my 


60 

country  on  this  memorable  occasion.  The  opening  of 
the  new  building  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the 
State  of  New- York,  which  we  celebrate  to  day,  is  not 
by  any  means  an  event  of  merely  local  or  even  national 
interest.  The  gathering  at  this  table  of  delegates  of 
foreign  nations  gives  ample  proof  of  the  international 
character  of  the  occasion.  [Applause.]  The  commerce 
and  industry  of  the  United  States  have  of  late  years 
achieved  much  toward  an  increased  importance  in  the 
financial  and  commercial  affairs  of  the  world,  pushing, 
at  the  same  time,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the 
leading  commercial  and  financial  center  of  the  Union 
to  the  front  rank  with  her  sister  organizations  of  the 
old  world.  The  wonderful  resources  which  the  United 
States  possess  in  their  natural  wealth,  in  agricultural 
products  as  well  as  in  raw  materials,  for  nearly  all  fields 
of  industrial  production  are,  together  with  the  genius  of 
their  leading  men  in  finance,  commerce  and  industry,  the 
admiration  of  the  old  world.  [Applause.]  We  of  the 
old  world  know  very  well  what  a  large  debt  of  gratitude 
we  owe  to  the  commercial  and  industrial  genius  of  your 
nation.  That  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  we  are  with 
you  to-day  in  order  to  participate,  on  behalf  of  our 
governments,  in  the  dedicatory  ceremonies  attending 
the  opening  of  that  magnificent  building,  in  which, 
from  to-day,  the  commercial  wisdom  and  the  financial 
genius  of  this  great  nation  will  centre.  And  I,  for  one, 
will  say  that  I  feel  proud,  indeed,  to  represent  the  gov- 
ernment of  my  country  at  this  memorable  event.  [Ap- 
plause.] This  feeling  of  genuine  pride  I,  no  doubt, 
share  with  the  rest  of  the  foreign  delegates  present, 
but,  at  the  same  time,  I  consider  it  my  special  duty  as 
well  as  my  pleasure  to  express  on  this  occasion  on 
behalf  of  my  Sovereign  and  of  my  country  the  feeling 
of  gratitude  with  which  Grermany  remembers  the  warm 
and  friendly  recepiion  which,  a  few  months  ago,  a  Prince 
of  the  Royal  House  of  Prussia  representing  his  Majesty, 


61 

the  Emperor,  in  a  special  mission  to  this  country,  has 
found  everywhere  here  a  reception  which  was  bound  to 
find  a  ready  and  equally  warm  response  with  our 
country  and  people,  and  which  will  never  be  forgotten. 
[Applause.] 

Our  age  stands  in  the  token  of  commerce,  and  each 
nation,  even  to  the.  limits  of  its  resources  and  abilities, 
will  therefore  try  its  best  to  protect  its  own  interests  on 
the  common  field  of  international  competition.  But 
competition  does  not  necessarily  mean  hostility. 
Mutual  welfare  is  to-day  the  true  community  of  in- 
terests amongst  the  nations  of  the  world.  [Applause.] 
There  is  room  for  all  of  us  in  the  world's  markets,  and 
fair  and  liberal  spirited  competition  has  in  itself  an 
element  of  education  and  mutual  understanding  con- 
ducive to  friendly  appreciation  of  each  other's  good 
points  which  cannot  but  lead  the  nations  of  the  earth 
towards  a  higher  conception  and  more  comprehensive 
fulfillment  of  their  destinies  in  mutual  helpfulness. 
[Applause.] 

In  the  spirit  of  these  remarks  I  have  the  honor,  Mr. 
President  and  gentlemen,  to  offer  on  behalf  of  my 
Sovereign  and  of  my  country  our  best  and  most  earnest 
wishes  for  the  future  of  this  great  and  friendly  nation 
and  for  the  work  of  one  of  the  most  important  agencies 
of  its  economical  welfare,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of 
the  State  of  New- York.     [Long  continued  applause.] 

The  Peesident. — Gentlemen,  the  next  toast, 

"  The  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  the  World,  the 
Modern  Successors  of  the  Guilds  of  The  Middle 
Ages," 

will   be    responded    to    by    Sir  Albert  K.    Rollit, 


69 

Member  of  Parliament  and  Chairman  of  the  Delegation 
of  the  London  Chamber  of  Commerce.     [Applause.] 

Sir  Albert,  before  giving  this  toast,  to  which  I  shall 
ask  you  to  respond,  I  feel  it  a  pleasure  and  a  privilege 
to  express  to  you  how  grateful  we  are  to  see  you  here 
and  your  delegation.  We  never  can  forget,  those  of  us 
who  received  your  hospitality  not  many  months  ago  in 
the  great  City  of  London — we  never  can  forget  that  visit, 
the  kindness  with  which  we  were  received,  and  all  that 
was  done  for  our  welfare  and  comfort.  We  came  away 
feeling  toward  you  and  towards  our  brothers  in  Eng- 
land a  tie  of  friendship,  respect  and  love  which  we  had 
not  before.  We  are  glad  that  you  have  accepted  our 
invitation  to  come  across  the  ocean,  and  that  you  are 
here  with  us  this  evening  to  break  bread  with  us.  I 
wish  to  convey  to  you  and  to  your  delegation  the 
thanks  of  the  members  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
that  we  have  the  privilege  of  receiving  you.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

speech  by  sib  albert  k.  rollit,  d.  0.  l.,  ll.  d.,  m.  p., 
chairman  of  the  delegation  of  the  london 
chamber  of  commerce. 

Mb.  Chairman,  Mr.  President  of  the  Republic, 
Mr.  Mayor,  Your  Excellencies,  and  Gentlemen  : 
I  am  very  conscious  of  the  high  compliment  which  is 
paid  to  the  London  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  to  its 
Delegation,  of  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be  Chairman, 
in  my  being  asked  to  acknowledge, — in  the  presence 
of  your  great  statesman,  your  President  of  the 
Republic,  [applause],  in  this  great  convention  of  com- 
merce, and  in  this  representative  gathering  of  interna- 
tional courtesy  and  comity, — the  Toast  of  "  The  Cham- 


jMi 


63 

bers  of  Commerce  of  the  World,  the  modem  successors 
of  the  religious  Guilds  of  the  Middle  ages."  I  am  afraid, 
however,  the  religion  is  now  reduced  to  the  saying  of 
grace  before  and  after  banquets  [laughter  ] ;  but  the 
inspiring  speeches  which  have  been  made  this  morn- 
ing and  evening  must  stimulate  any  man  to  do 
his  best, — 'to  rise  to  the  height  of  the  great  argu- 
ment.' I  respond,  therefore,  with  every  apprecia- 
tion of  the  most  kind  expressions  which  have  been 
made  use  of  by  the  President  of  your  Chamber,  and  I 
know  that  I  express  the  reciprocal  good  feeling  of  all 
Chambers  of  Commerce, — (including  the  British  Cham- 
ber at  Paris,  which  has  authorized  me,  as  one  of  its 
Directors,  so  to  say), — and  especially  of  those  Cham- 
bers which  have  the  honor  and  the  privilege  of  being 
represented  here  to-night, — Chambers  of  Commerce 
among  the  largest  and  the  most  notable  in  the  whole 
world.  It  is  quite  true  that  the  oldest,  or  probably  the 
oldest.  Chamber,  Marseilles,  is  not  here  ;  though  when 
I  say  the  oldest,  perhaps  I  ought  to  except  Ephesus, 
whose  extemporized  Chamber  was  formed  in  the  market 
place,  when  the  craftsmen,  men  of  like  occupation,  met 
because  the  craft  was  in  danger, — a  scene  which  gives 
Chambers  of  Commerce  a  high  antiquity  [laughter]. 
But  we  have  with  us  the  close  neighbor  of  Marseilles, 
Lyons,  which  recently  celebrated  its  bi-centenary.  We 
have  also  the  Chamber  of  Paris,  with  its  great  Schools 
of  Commerce  ;  the  Chamber  of  Berlin  ;  and  that  very 
old  Chamber  of  Hamburg,  a  Chamber  which  may  be 
said  to  be  coeval  with  that  great  Hansetown  itself,  the 
very  word  Hansetown  signifying  *an  association,'  and  a 
Chamber  which  may,  therefore,  be  said  to  have  existed 
when  England  and  America  were  being  made  in  Ger- 
many.    [Laughter  and  applause.] 

There  is  also  another  Chamber  which  is  most  properly 
present  at  a  great  banquet  and  festivity  like  this.  I 
mean  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Rheims,  of  Cham- 


64 

pagne,  represented  by  a  suggestive  name,  Count  Raoul 
'Ohandon,'  and  represented  also  in  the  magnificent 
hospitality  which  has  been  extended  to  us  to-night. 
[Laughter.] 

Gentlemen,  we  of  the  Chambers  of  Commerce  from 
abroad  most  cordially  thank  you  for  that  entertainment 
and  hospitality,  which  we  shall  always  remember  with 
gratitude,  that  gratitude  which  is  the  memory  of  the 
heart.  [Applause.]  Carltle  said  that  the  inventor 
of  a  new  pudding  might  be  a  greater  man  than  the 
discoverer  of  a  new  planet,  but  experience  tells  me  that 
if  we  wished  for  them,  you  would  add  both  to  your 
Lucullian  menu ;  and  the  fate  I  fear  if,  unlike  Mrs. 
Lot,  I  go  straight  on,  will  be  that  I  may  be  turned 
into  a  Terrapin  Tower  ;  that  my  only  strong  points  left 
will  be  '  blue-points'  ;  and  that  if,  as  we  are  assured  in 
commerce,  figures  can  prove  anything,  our  figures  will 
be  conclusive  proof  of  your  lavish  hospitality.  [Laugh- 
ter.] Its  generous  profusion  rivals  that  of  the  Doctor, 
who,  when  the  Highwayman  put  the  pistol  at  his  head, 
saying,  'your  money  or  your  life,'  replied,  'my  man, 
I  have  always  taken  both,  pray  do  the  same.' 
[Laughter.] 

I  now  begin  to  understand  an  original  rule  of  your 
Chamber,  which  puzzled  me  for  a  moment  when  I  first 
read  it  in  your  Reports,  under  which  fines  were  inflicted 
for  non-attendance  at  meetings,  "except  in  the  case  of 
gout,"  to  quote  the  words  of  the  rule,  "  or  other  valid 
cause."  [Laughter.]  I  should  have  expressed  it, 
"other  in-valid  cause."  [Laughter.]  But  that  is  a 
detail,  [laughter] ;  and,  for  my  part,  I  venture  to  hope 
that,  as  a  means  of  friendship  and  good  fellowship, 
dining  will  never  become  a  lost  art,  or  hospitality  only 
an  ancient  virtue.     [Applause.] 

For  the  Chambers  of  Commerce,  I  respectfully  offer 
you,  of  the  New- York  Chamber,  our  congratulations 
upon  the  opening  of  your  new  building  to-day,  a  build- 


65 

ing  worthy  of  tlie  great  work  of  yonr  Chamber.  You 
have  no  longer  merely  a  mansion  in  the  skies  [laugh- 
ter], you  have  not  an  iron  flat  or  a  "flat-iron," 
[laughter] ;  but  you  have  a  most  beautiful  building,  not 
made  with  hands  only,  but  made  by  the  minds  of  those 
men  pictured  on  its  walls,  whose  portraits  represent  the 
evolution  and  development  of  the  commerce  of  your 
Empire  State  ;  a  building  the  beauty  of  which,  and  the 
harmony  of  all  its  parts,  suggested  to  my  delighted 
eyes  to-day  the  imagination  of  petrified  music  [ap- 
plause]. That  building  takes  its  place  not  merely  in  the 
history  of  commerce,  but  in  the  civic  development  of 
your  community,  in  the  adornment  of  your  great  City. 
That  City  is  the  subject  of  a  transformation  scene, 
which  is,  to  my  mind,  most  striking.  It  is  thirty-two 
years  of  my  life  since  I  first  visited  New- York.  At  that 
time  I  went  to  the  top  of  Trinity  Church  to  view  the 
house  tops  ;  to-day  I  go  to  the  house  tops  to  view  the  top 
of  Trinity, — a  topsy-turvy  view  of  your  tall  City,  your 
modern  Babel.  [Laughter.]  Your  splendid  addition 
to  the  architecture  of  that  City,  a  palace  of  white 
marble,  may,  apart  from  its  commercial  aspect,  well  fill 
you  with  proper  civic  pride,  in  that  it  helps  you  to 
echo  the  boast  of  Augustus  C^sae  :  "I  found  Rome 
of  brick,  and  I  left  it  of  marble."     [Applause.] 

And  that  building  bears  no  name  save  that  of  '  The 
Chamber  of  Commerce,' — it  is  the  gift  not  of  a  person, 
but  of  the  people  ;  in  which  you  also  emulate  the  civic 
virtue  of  the  Athenians,  when  they  forebore  to  name 
one  of  their  public  buildings  after  Peeicles, — after  the 
greatest  statesman  of  antiquity,  saying  that  it  belonged 
only  to  the  people.     [Applause.] 

But  this  is  an  age  in  which  we  rightly  judge  of 
men  not  by  what  they  have,  but  by  what  they 
do ;  and  it  is  of  your  work  that  I  desire  for  a 
moment  to  speak, — not  merely  of  your  work  for 
commerce,   great  as  it  has  been,   but   rather  of  your 


66 

special  work  for  civilization  and  for  Christianity, 
in  which  your  Chamber  has  set  an  example  to  the 
whole  world  of  cosmopolitan  charity  and  benevolence. 
You  have,  indeed,  fulfilled  your  altruistic  motto :  "Non 
nobis  nati  solum ;"  you  have  unified  conscience  and 
commerce  ;  you  have  federated  the  nations  and  the 
peoples,  through  the  human  heart ;  you  have  fostered 
both  commerce  and  international  comity  by  a  union  of 
both  hearts  and  interests  throughout  the  world.  The 
epitaph  of  the  philanthropist,  Howaed,  in  our  St. 
Paul's  is:  "They  who  seek  to  do  good  to  mankind  tread 
an  open,  but  an  unfrequented,  path  to  immortality," — 
and  on  that  path  you  have  made  beaten  footprints 
for  all  mankind  to  follow.  Wherever  there  has  been  a 
convulsion,  a  catastrophe,  a  conflagration,  almost  any 
human  ill,  your  helping  hand  has  been  extended  to 
relieve  and  to  restore  ;  and  we  in  England,  after  many 
generations,  do  not,  and  never  can,  forget,  that,  at  a 
delicate  and  difficult  moment  of  your  civil  war,  you 
helped  our  cotton  operatives  of  Lancashire,  and  im- 
planted in  our  hearts  a  remembrance  and  a  gratitude 
which  will  endure  with  the  history  of  our  nation. 
Truly,  you  have  made  the  performance  of  public  and 
private  duty  the  chivalry  of  to-day.      [Applause.] 

And  you  will  have  your  reward.  On  the  Town  Hall 
or  Zittan,  in  Saxony,  I  remember  reading  a  Latin  in- 
scription:  "To  do  good  and  to  be  spitefully  entreated 
is  kingly"  [laughter];  and,  whatever  your  material 
profit,  you  will  at  least  have  regal  returns,  and  the  con- 
solation once  given  to  me  by  an  engine-driver  who  had 
permitted  me  to  ride  with  him  on  his  engine  in  the 
White  Mountains,  the  better  to  see  the  scenery,  and 
whom  I  asked,  when  we  were  descending  a  steep  and 
precipitous  decline :  "Where  should  we  go  to  if  that 
break  gives  way  f  "  That,  sir,  depends  upon  our  past 
lives."     [Laughter.] 

But,  gentlemen,    the  President  of  the  Republic  has 


67 

most  properly  suggested  to  us  that,  not  only  in  acts  of 
benevolence,  but  also  in  the  ethics  of  commerce,  your 
Chamber  has  done  much  good  by  the  high  standard  and 
tone  of  commercial  morality  which  it  has  always  set  up 
for  both  itself  and  for  others.  It  has  ever  proclaimed 
honesty  as  the  best  policy.  You  have  never  shown  any 
sympathy  with  that  class  of  men  of  whom  it  may  be 
said  :  *'  It  is  not  their  principle  to  pay  their  interest,  nor 
their  interest  to  pay  their  principal."  [Laughter  and 
applause.]  You  have  known  how  to  punctuate  the 
line  between  speculation  and  peculation  ;  you  have 
never  given  countenance  to  the  idea  of  some  that 
there  are  easier  and  better  ways  of  getting  a  dollar  than 
by  working  for  it ;  and  you  have  always  supported 
laws  tending  to  repress  such  commercial  adventurers  as 
the  one  who  said:  "Two  years  ago  I  came  to  your 
country  a  penniless  and  friendless  man  ;  but,  thanks  to 
my  own  enterprise  and  energy,  I  leave  it  to  to-morrow 
twenty  thousand  pounds  in  debt."  [Laughter  and 
applause.] 

Your  object  has  been  to  advance  the  best  men  and 
the  best  measures.  Yoa  have  favored  the  enactment  of 
good  laws  and  pure  administration,  and  you  have  never 
failed  to  remember,  as  has  also  been  suggestively  inti- 
mated by  the  President  of  the  Republic  to-night,  that 
liberty,  to  be  enjoyed,  must  be  limited  by  law  ;  that 
where  law  ends  there  tyranny  begins  ;  and  that  the 
tyranny  is  the  same,  whether  it  be  the  tyranny  of  a 
monarch  or  of  a  multitude.  Nay,  the  tyranny  of  the 
multitude  may  even  be  a  multiplied  tyranny.  [Ap- 
plause.] And,  by  these  means  you  have  rid  your  laws, 
to  a  large  extent,  of  the  reproach  which  has  been  at- 
tached to  ours, — not  altogether  truly,  but  still  attached, 
— that  law  and  equity  are  two  things  which  God  has 
joined  together  and  man  has  put  asunder.     [Laughter.] 

For  instance,  I  was  present  at  the  last  historical  de- 
bate in  your  old  building,  and  was  struck  by  the  solici- 


68 

tude,  in  municipal  improvements,  for  individual  rights  ; 
while,  as  Chairman  of  the  Statutory  Savings  Banks'  In- 
spection Committee  in  the  United  Kingdom,  I  have 
noticed  your  interest  in  the  safety  of  deposited  sav- 
ings, and  your  wish,  like  ours,  to  make  the  most  of  them 
by  widening  the  area  of  prudent  and  safe  investment. 

Therefore,  gentlemen,  it  is  a  great  pleasure  to  us, 
members  of  other,  I  will  not  say  foreign.  Chambers,  to 
visit  yours ;  but,  from  the  first,  I  have  been  faced  by 
what  appears  to  me  a  perpetual  paradox.  I  thought  I 
was  coming  from  the  old  world  to  the  new  world  ;  from 
old  York,  my  home  county,  to  New- York ;  from  the 
dark  ages,  relieved, — it  is  true,  by  brilliant  flashes  of 
light,  disclosing  the  germs  of  the  great  institutions  of  to- 
day,— to  the  light  age  [laughter]  ;  and,  when  we  were 
invited,  even  Mr.  Hepbuen  wrote  to  me,  plaintively 
almost,  saying  that  you  had  but  little  of  interest  to 
shew  us,  and,  above  all,  he  added,  '  we  have  no  antiqui- 
ties.' Now,  I  have  asked  myself  while  I  have  been  here, 
what  is  a  rough  test  of  antiquity.  I  have  remembered 
an  old  song,  named  '  When  Geoege  III.  was  King,' 
and  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  title  of  that  song 
was  enough  to  give  me  an  index  of  reasonable  antiquity, 
— that  the  four  Geoeges  were  old  enough  for  any  one. 
But,  wherever  I  go,  I  cannot  escape  from  Geoege  III. 
and  other  Geoeges.  I  went  to  Columbia  University, — 
that  magnificent  monument  of  the  foundation  of  your 
commercial  success  on  wide  and  diJBEused  education  and 
knowledge,  on  equality  of  educational  opportunity, 
tempered  by  natural  selection  according  to  merit.  It 
was  called  The  King's  College,  originally,  and  was 
founded  by  Geoege  II.  !  I  went  to  Trinity  Church.  Its 
whole  associations  were  with  Geoege  III. !  I  came  from 
a  Chamber  of  Commerce  founded  in  1882. 

A  Voice.— In  1768. 

SiE  Albebt  K.  Rollit. — No,  no.    That  is  the  point.    I 


69 

came  from  a  Chamber  of  Commerce  founded  in  1882,  in 
London,  not  forgetful  of  the  historical  fact  that  the 
earliest  Chambers  which  Great  Britain  has  produced 
are  the  Chamber  of  Glasgow,  established  in  1783,  and 
that  of  Edinburgh  in  1785  ;  and  then  I  entered  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New- York,  founded  by 
Koyal  Charter  of  His  Majesty  King  George  III.,  in 
1768. !  Why,  gentlemen,  that  is  going  back  almost  to 
the  times  of  the  Young  Pretender  and  the  Stuarts  ! 
[Laughter.]  Even  the  original  seal  of  silver  of  your 
Chamber,  a  seal  older  than  our  Great  Seal,  because  our 
Great  seals  are  always  broken  up,  was  lost,  and  found, 
and  brought  back  to  New- York  from  an  old  curiosity 
shop  in  England.  Now,  I  must  make  an  appeal. 
I  heard,  the  other  night,  your  Ambassador  at  Berlin,  Mr. 
White,  at  the  Bodleian  Tercentenary  Celebration  at  Ox- 
ford, say  that  in  his  boyhood,  he  and  the  other  scholars 
were  taught — shall  I  call  it  mildly  ? — not  to  reverence 
the  name  of  George  III.  I  now  make  an  appeal  that 
there  be  an  amnesty,  that  those  days  may  be  completely 
forgotten,  that, — as  even  the  memory  of  King  John  is, 
Mr.  Mayor,  redeemed,  because  he  first  invented  Mayors, 
— so  that  the  character  of  George  III.  may  be  redeemed 
by  the  fact  of  his  historical  association  with  your  great 
institutions  to  which  I  have  ventured  to  refer.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

Now,  gentlemen,  a  few  words  more  especially  to  my 
Toast,  the  Toast  of  The  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  the 
World,  a  wide-wide- world  toast.  Its  very  title  recalls 
some  of  the  foibles  of  our  two  nations,  at  which  we  may 
now  laugh.  I  have  heard  one  of  your  countrymen  speak 
of  its  boundaries,  saying,  '  My  country  is  bounded  by  the 
path-less  ocean  on  the  east,  by  the  e-qui-nox-es  on  the 
south,  by  the  au-ro-ra  Bo  re-a-lis  on  the  north,  and  by 
the  day  of  judgment  on  the  west.  [Laughter.]  Well, 
we  laughingly  reply  'that  our  country  has  no  boun- 
daries at  all,'    [laughter],  'it  is  encompassed  by   the 


70 

inviolate  sea.'  And  I  remember  also  having  a  conversa- 
tion,— I  am  not  sure,  Mr.  Senator  Ohaunoe;y  Depew, 
whether  you  were  not  present, — at  Homburg,  where 
some  of  us  Britons  were  talking,  too  tritely,  that  the 
sun  never  sets  upon  our  Empire,  and  when  a  distin- 
guished American  lady  said  to  us  :  '  Has  it  ever  occurred 
to  you  to  inquire  the  reason  why  the  sun  does  not  set 
upon  your  Empire  ?  '  No.'  '  Then,'  she  said,  '  I  will 
hazard  a  conjecture, — may  it  not  be  that  Providence 
dare  not  trust  you  in  the  dark  V     [Laughter.] 

Mr.  Depew. — When  that  remark  was  made  Sir 
Albert  was  younger  than  he  is  now. 

Sir  Albert  K.  Rollit. — And  I  am  afraid  I  was  also 
darker.     [Laughter.] 

Now,  the  words  of  the  toast  lead  me  to  support  it  by 
the  argument  that  Chambers  of  Commerce  are  based  upon 
the  application  of  the  principle  of  co-operation  to  com- 
merce ;  they  give  cohesion  to  commerce  ;  that  collective 
action  is  more  powerful  than  individual  action  ;  and  that, 
by  this  collective  action,  men  of  commerce  are  able,  as 
a  whole,  to  do  for  each  very  much  that  the  individuals 
could  never  do  for  themselves,  or,  at  any  rate,  much 
which  a  great  body  politic  is  better  able  to  do  for  each, 
and  which  it  can  do  much  better  and  more  cheaply  than 
the  individuals  can  do  it  by  and  for  themselves.  My 
great  Hull  townsman,  Andrew  Marvel,  an  incorrupti- 
ble patriot  in  a  corruptible  age,  said,  in  one  of  his 
poems  :  "How  much  one  man  can  do,  if  he  both  act  and 
know  ;"  and  it  is  this  principle  of  knowledge,  as  the 
basis  of  business,  to  which  Chambers  of  Commerce  are 
able  to  give  practical  effect.  How  much  can  be  done 
through  collective  knowledge  and  action  !  Chambers  of 
Commerce  are  the  eyes  and  ears,  as  it  were,  of  commer- 
cial peoples  ;  they  are  the  '  intelligence  departments '  of 


71 

our  industrial  armies ;  and  if,  for  a  moment,  I  may  carry 
the  military  parallel  further,  your  Chamber  is,  as  it 
were,  a  great  ambulance  department  of  those  armies, 
raising  the  fallen,  relieving  and  restoring  stragglers  to 
the  ranks,  making  them  march  into  step  again,  and  re- 
placing them  in  a  position  from  which  they  may  have 
momentarily  fallen,  and  to  which  they  are  restored  by 
your  generous  co-operation.  You  have  thus  shown 
how  to  widen  the  objective  of  political  economy  from 
mere  wealth  to  the  greater  and  better  one  of  the  welfare 
of  mankind.     [Applause.] 

And,  by  many  such  means,  our  Chambers  of  Commerce, 
now  rising  in  new  countries  almost  with  the  Church  and 
the  Store — as  in  South  Africa,  and  in  the  Philippines, 
where,  it  may  interest  you  to  know,  there  are  now 
two  Chambers  of  Commerce, — have  promoted  national 
and  individual  commerce  and  trade.  They  have  also 
taken,  and  are  taking,  their  part  in  great  public  works, 
— in  such  works  as  the  Erie  Canal,  at  the  base  of  your 
commerce  in  the  port  of  New- York,  in  the  Atlantic 
cable,  in  the  Pacific  cable,  just  completed,  girdling 
the  world,  and  so  realizing  the  demand  of  that  great 
municipal  reformer  who  insisted  that  "all  those  old- 
fashioned  lines  of  latitude  and  longitude  should  be 
taken  up  and  replaced  by  telegraphic  wires."  [Laughter 
and  applause.]  Chambers  of  Commerce  are  thus, 
through  collective  and  common  knowledge  and  action,  a 
great  power  in  the  commercial  world.  We  have  heard 
much  latterly  about  Trusts  and  Combines  and  the  like  ; 
these  have  caused  some  surprise  and  some  appre- 
hension, but  my  chief  comment  is  that  earlier  know- 
ledge and  thought,  which  might  have  been  had  through 
Chambers  of  Commerce,  might  have  prevented,  or 
allayed,  that  apprenension.  So  long  since  as  1894,  in 
my  Annual  Address  as  President  of  the  Associated 
Chambers  of  Commerce  of  the  United  Kingdom,  I  dealt 
with    the    subject    as   one    for  careful    consideration 


72 

Ever  since  I  read  my  Locke,  as  a  student,  I  have 
learned  to  think  more  of  things  than  words  and  names. 
Trusts  have  existed,  in  principle,  since  Lord  Keeper 
Coke  said  that  corporations  had  neither  souls  to  be 
saved  nor  bodies  to  be  kicked  ;  and  what  are  Trusts,  after 
all,  but  vast  incorporations  under  a  new  name  ?  And 
corporations  and  companies,  no  less  than  Trusts,  have 
had  their  amalgamations  and  reconstructions,  their  ab- 
sorptions, their  monopolies,  their  watered  capitals,  and 
all  the  rest  of  it.  The  vital  point  is  as  to  administrative 
methods.  Cicero  said  that  bad  laws  well  administered 
might  be  better  than  good  laws  ill  administered  ;  and,  so 
far  as  Combines  and  the  like  effect  more  economic  pro- 
duction and  reduction  of  cost  by  diminishing  fixed  and 
other  charges,  they  are  a  phase  in  the  economic  evolu- 
tion of  trade,  and  a  good  one  ;  and,  if  they  sin  against 
the  human  and  Divine  law  of  "live  and  let  live,"  if, 
like  Juggernauts,  they  crush  out  and  contract  the 
necessaries  of  life  by  grinding  monopolies,  we  must 
hope  that  the  resources  of  civilized  legislation  will 
prove  at  least  as  equal  to  the  occasion  as  they  were  in 
Queen  Elizabeth's  time  in  her  statutes  against  monopo- 
lies, and  regratings,  and  engrossings,  and  this  by  the  way 
of  due  and  proper  regulation  and  control  and  without 
any  unnecessary  interference  with  the  course  of  trade 
and  industry.  For  my  part,  therefore,  I  don't  think  we 
have  any  real  reason  to  fear,  in  our  country  or  in  yours, 
anything  very  serious  from  combinations,  much  less 
from  competition.  If  you  combine,  we  do  not,  nor  ever 
shall,  repine ;  and,  if  you  are  our  competitors,  we  are 
quite  certain  you  will  also  be  our  customers,  because  we 
hold  the  gateway  of  Europe,  because  there  must  be  two 
termini  at  least  in  every  commercial  transaction,  and 
because  both  our  nations  share  the  inestimable  ad- 
vantage of  a  common  language,  the  chief  instrument 
of  international  trade.  We  shall,  therefore,  jointly 
advance,  and  the  destinies  of  our  countries,  of  both  of 


73 

them,  will  be  promoted  by  the  combined  action  of  which 
I  have  been  speaking.  I  have,  indeed,  no  fear  of 
Morgan-atic  alliances  in  commerce.  [Laughter,]  Eng- 
lish capital  largely  and  profitably  helped  to  develop 
American  railroads  and  other  public  works,  and,  equally, 
American  capital  may  develop  for  us  Rapid  Transit 
through  our  two-penny  tubes  [laughter];  and  it  is 
possible  that  American  commercial  methods  may  make 
us,  as  a  people,  more  active  and  alert  and  up-to-date, 
and  less  inclined,  while  an  American  father  says, 
"Thank  God  I  have  a  son,"  to  rest  and  be  thankful, 
and  say  "Thank  God  I  have  a  father."  [Laughter.] 
I  believe,  then,  Mr.  President  of  the  Republic,  that  the 
eternal  principles  of  right  and  justice,  which  both  our 
great  nations  reverence,  will  prevail,  and  that,  if  they 
falter,  even  for  a  moment,  means  will  be  found  of  recon- 
ciling any  changes  with  the  supreme  principle  of  the 
welfare  of  the  nation.     [Applause.] 

Now,  gentlemen,  with  apologies  for  a  somewhat  long 
trespass,  I  conclude  by  saying  that  we  also  owe  some- 
thing to  our  Chambers  for  the  practical  interest  they 
have  taken  in  Mercantile  Arbitrations,  in  place  of  slow 
and  costly  litigation ;  in  Industrial  Conciliation  and 
Arbitration, — in  saying  to  the  combatants,  '  Strike,  but 
hear ;'  in  International  Arbitration,  by  which  war  has 
more  than  once  been  prevented.  For  instance,  in  the  case 
of  the  Venezuelan  dispute,  I  claim,  with  pride,  that  , 
during  my  Presidency  of  the  London  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, we  particularly  represented  the  difficulty,  the 
delicacy,  and  the  danger  of  the  question,  and  urged  upon 
Ministers  of  both  political  parties  its  reference  to  arbi- 
tration, long  before  matters  became  acute  ;  and  we  shall 
never  forget  that  arbitration,  as  the  alternative  to  that 
which  would  have  been  a  public  crime,  war  between 
our  two  countries,  was  ultimately  effected,  in  a  very 
large  measure  by  the  joint  action  of  your  Chamber  and 
our  own.     [Applause.] 


74 

We  are,  therefore,  glad  that  the  United  States  has 
set  the  first  example  of  a  reference  to  arbitration  under 
the  Treaty  of  the  Hague  ;  that  the  Behring'  s  Sea  dis- 
pute was  disposed  of  by  arbitration,  with  due  regard  to 
the  interest  and  feelings  of  our  great  colony,  Canada ; 
and  even  that  in  Samoa  both  our  nations  have  so  referred 
matters,  although  they  have  both  been  held  liable  for 
injuries  to  third  parties  ;  while  many  of  us  have  urged 
that,  in  the  case  of  France  and  England  and  the  United 
States,  the  very  possibility  of  war  ought  to  be  removed 
by  general  Treaties  of  Arbitration.  And,  if  there  be 
still  some  prejudice  in  my  country  against  international 
arbitration,  owing  to  the  belief  that  we  did  not  gain 
much  by  the  Treaty  of  Washington  in  relation  to  the 
Alabama  disputes,  I  am  able  to  say,  as  a  Britisher,  that 
my  shipping  firm  of  Bailey  &  Leetham  was  a  success- 
ful claimant  under  that  treaty,  and  that  we  received  a 
most  liberal  reward  for  the  detention  of  one  of  our 
steamers,  the  Labuan,  in  the  Harbor  of  New- York 
during  the  war,  lest  she  should  carry  the  news  of  Gen- 
eral Banks'  expedition  down  South.     [Laughter.] 

That  award,  however,  was  of  small  moment,  compared 
with  the  Presidential  message  of  General  Grant  of 
December  2,  1872,  when  he  addressed  to  Congress  these 
words:  "The  results  of  the  arbitration  leave  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  without  a  shadow  on  their 
friendly  relations."  [Applause.]  That,  I  hope,  will 
make  for  arbitration  and  make  for  peace  ;  for,  we  of  the 
Chambers  of  Commerce  agree  with  those  statesmen  who 
believe  that  commerce,  whatever  it  may  have  meant 
occasionally  in  the  past,  now  means  peace.  Our  com- 
merce is  peace  ;  for,  as  the  terrible  consequences  of  the 
use  of  modern  armaments  tend  to  keep  the  peace,  so  the 
consequences  of  the  disruption  of  the  vast  interests  of 
modern  commerce  must  ever  make  for  peace.  Com- 
merce, therefore,  will  act  as  what  I  will  call  economic 
friction  against  war.    There  are  times  when  the  exist- 


75 

ence  or  honor  of  nations  is  at  stake.  There  are  moments 
when  the  force  of  right  mnst  be  asserted  by  the  right  of 
force,  when  the  sword  alone  can  keep  the  sword  in  the 
scabbard  ;  and  peril  is  not  peace.  Bnt  we  all  hope  for 
that  blessed  time  when  the  animosities  shall  perish  and 
the  humanities  become  eternal,  when  the  barriers  shall 
fall  down  between  nation  and  nation,  and  be  set  up  only 
between  right  and  wrong  ;  when  we  may  all  say  : 

The  sheathed  sword  falls, 
And  peace,  an  Angel,  folds  her  golden  wings, 
And  commerce  smiling  callB. 

[Applause.] 

And  in  the  case,  Mr,  President,  of  our  own  two  great 
countries,  when  I  speak  of  peace,  I  am  reminded 
of  the  great  Pax  Romana^  spoken  of  by  Tacitus,  in 
which  the  whole  Roman  world  is  described  as  lying  at 
peace  ;  but  that  was  a  peace  of  force,  a  peace  of  subjec- 
tion, a  peace  of  the  sword,  the  hilt  of  which  was  at 
Rome  and  the  point  everywhere.  [Applause.]  And, 
as  Cavour  said,  '  You  may  do  anything  with  bayonets 
— except  sit  upon  them.'     [Laughter.] 

Our  Pax  Anglo-Saxonica,  what  we  hope  for,  the  great 
Anglo-Saxon  peace,  is  to  be  a  peace  of  liberty,  and  help, 
and  hopefulness,  the  peace  of  civilization  and  Christi- 
anity. Our  countries  ever  recall  a  commercial  simile — 
as  it  were  of  the  weft  and  warp,  our  great  ocean  steamers, 
like  gigantic  shuttles,  passing  to  and  fro,  and  weav- 
ing them  into  one  harmonious  whole.  How  we  long 
for  that  brotherhood  of  kith  and  kin !  How  we  thank 
you  for  paving  the  way  to  it,  by  your  generous  and  en- 
lightened sympathies,  and  by  the  expressions  of  your 
public  men  and  of  your  esteemed  President.  [Ap- 
plause.] St.  Paul  says,  'Let  peace  garrison  your 
hearts  ;'  and  it  is  in  this  spirit  of  peace  that  I  close  my 
speech, — in  thanking  you  all.  President  and  People,  on 
behalf  of  the  Chambers  of  Commerce, — by  borrowing,  in 
the  poverty  of  my  own  language  for  such  a  purpose, 


76 

from  the  wealth  of  Shakespeare, — our  Shakespeare, 
— your  Shakespeare, — that  King  Shakespeare,  of 
which  we  are  all  subjects,  that  genius  which  has  given 
us  and  you,  and  the  whole  world,  a  priceless  heritage, — 
to  enable  me  to  say  all  in  a  single  verse  : 

"  We  can  no  other  answer  make 
But  thanks,  and  thanks,  and  ever  thanks." 

[Applause.] 

The  President. — Gentlemen,  we  have  with  as  a 
representative  of  the  commercial  interests  of  the  French 
Republic,  Mr.  V.  Hugot.  He  comes  as  a  delegate  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Paris.  In  your  name  I 
tender  to  him  and  his  associates  a  hearty  welcome. 
We  do  not  forget  that  France  was  our  ancient  ally,  and 
is  still  our  firm  friend.     [Applause.]    The  toast, 

"  Reciprocity  between  Nations  is  the  application  of 
Commercial  Principles  and  Methods  to  Inter- 
national Intercourse." 

I  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  to  you  Mr.  Hugot, 
delegate  of  the  Paris  Chamber  of  Commerce.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

speech   by   MR.    V.    HUGOT,      DELEGATE     OF    THE     PARIS 
CHAMBER   OF   COMMERCE. 

Me.  President  and  Gtentlemen  :  I  beg  to  rise  in 
order  to  present  to  you  the  congratulations  of  the  Paris 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  in  whose  name  and  on  whose 
behalf  I  am  here.  [Applause.]  Unfortunately  our 
President,  M.  Fumouje,  has  been  prevented  on  account 
of  the  great  pressure  upon  his  time  from  responding  to 
your  kind  invitation. 


77 

Probably  I  am  not  altogether  unworthy  to  address 
yon  myself,  as,  for  more  than  half  a  century,  I  had 
never  ceased  to  be  in  close  personal  contact  with  the 
business  of  your  City.  I  began  at  the  time  of  the 
Presidential  competition  between  Franklin  Pierce 
and  General  Scott.  I  do  remember  it  pretty  well,  as  it 
was  associated  with  a  commercial  speculation  which 
turned  out  badly.  We  had  imported  a  lot  of  purses 
with  the  portrait  of  Scott  on  them.  Pierce  was 
elected,  and  we  had  to  sell  out  Scott  as  a  job  lot. 
[Laughter.]  We  experienced  in  this  circumstance  that 
it  is  in  New- York  as  it  was  formeriy  in  Rome :  Vie 
Yictis. 

Since  then  what  changes  have  taken  place  in  the 
commercial  life  of  the  United  States.  When  one  con- 
siders its  extraordinary  growth  one's  mind  becomes 
confused.  If  the  first  President  of  1768  of  the  New- 
York  Chamber  of  Commerce  came  back  to  life  he  would 
be  astounded  at  the  manifestation  of  such  marvelous 
power. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  nature  has  been  prodigal  towards 
you  with  her  gifts.  Your  soil  produces  all  the  various 
necessities  of  life,  such  as  corn,  cattle,  wood,  &c. 
Minerals  and  coal  are  found  in  abundance.  She  has 
given  you  immense  lakes  and  rivers,  and  through  you 
she  has  given  to  the  worid  that  most  wonderful  gift  of 
modern  industry — petroleum.  In  order  to  complete  her 
work  she  has  made  of  you  a  race  which  combines  the 
qualities  and  experience  of  the  old  people  with  the 
energy  of  youth.     [Applause.] 

Each  star  of  your  flag  is  the  symbol  of  a  new  territory 
conquered  to  civilization  and  industry  and  to  the  light 
of  science.  [Applause.]  In  the  last  fifty  years  how 
the  number  of  those  stars  has  increased. 

Your  clients  hail  from  all  the  nations  of  the  world, 
and  one  the  more  readily  understands  why  the  metropo- 
lis of  such  a  country  should  erect  such  a  magnificent 


78 

palace  to  commerce,  why  so  many  famous  names  should 
be  inscribed  on  its  rolls  of  honor,  and  why  its  members 
should  be  as  numerous  to  the  City  of  New- York  alone 
as  for  most  of  the  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  the  old 
continent  together.  The  Chamber  of  Commerce  in 
Paris  admires  you,  but  without  envy.  It  has  deter- 
mined, I  can  assure  you  from  my  heart,  to  entertain  the 
most  amicable  relations  with  you,  and  it  hopes  those 
relations  will  be  fruitful.     [Applause.] 

The  toast  I  have  the  honor  to  respond  to  is,  in  my 
opinion,  the  mere  expression  of  justice  and  common 
sense.  We  are  no  more  in  those  times  when  commerce 
was  forced  by  war.  The  whole  world  is  now-a-days 
united  by  new  bonds  created  by  science.  [Applause.] 
It  will  not  be  in  the  power  of  anybody  to  unloose  those 
splendid  ties  and  to  minimize  their  influence.  [Ap- 
plause.] The  old  words.  Do  ut  Des^  must  be  hereafter 
understood  in  the  mode  of  equitable  reciprocity  and 
loyal  international  intercourse  for  the  benefit  of  all 
nations  at  large.  We  think  in  Paris  that  in  these 
times  of  emulation,  when  commerce  is  subjected  to 
violent  and  frequent  fluctuations,  any  agreement 
tending  to  assure  the  fixity  of  the  market  can  only  be 
to  the  advantage  of  the  countries  contracting  it.  We 
hailed  with  pleasure  the  project  of  a  commercial  con- 
vention planned  in  1899  between  our  two  nations,  and 
if  the  New- York  Chamber  of  Commerce  shares  our 
sentiments  we  shall,  with  great  satisfaction,  see  it 
encourage  the  definite  adoption  of  this  project,  which 
will  unite  more  closely  the  ancient  and  intimate  bonds 
existing  between  the  two  nations.     [Applause.] 

A  true  son  of  France,  I  could  not  conclude  my 
address  to  you  to-night  without  offering  you  a  word  of 
gratitude.  It  is  in  his  own  name  that  the  delegate  of 
Paris  thanks  you,  you  the  representatives  of  American 
commerce,  for  the  support  you  have  given  to  a  work  so 
dear  to  our  hearts.     After  uniting  the  Mediterranean  to 


the  Indian  Ocean,  France  now  sees  with  pleasure  that  it 
is  her  sister  Republic,  America,  who  takes  upon  herself 
the  task  of  completing  the  great  enterprise  of  the 
Panama  Canal.  [Applause.]  The  time  is  not  far  distant 
when  the  basin  of  the  Pacific  will  equal  that  ot  the 
Atlantic  by  the  magnitude  of  its  commerce.  The  Ameri- 
can Republic  which  has  opened  the  first  railway  with 
Panama  is  faithful  to  her  traditions  in  completing  the 
canal  which  will  unite  the  two  most  frequented  seas  of 
the  globe,  and,  in  the  long  lapse  of  ages,  the  names  of 
the  United  States  and  France  will  be  inseparable  in  the 
memory  of  future  generations.     [Applause.] 

I  drink,  gentlemen,  with  all  my  heart  to  the  pros- 
perity of  the  New- York  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  to 
the  development  of  the  American  commerce  upon  the 
sound  principle  of  just  and  fair  reciprocity  between 
well-wishing  and  friendly  nations.     [Long  applause.] 

The  President. — Gentlemen,  the  commercial  inter- 
ests of  Germany  are  represented  to-night  by  Mr.  Paul 
Heckmann,  who  has  been  delegated  by  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  Berlin,  to  attend  our  celebration.  We 
have  welcomed  the  commercial  representatives  of  Eng- 
land and  France,  and,  in  your  name,  I  heartily  extend 
a  like  welcome  to  the  representative  of  Germany,  whose 
influence  is  felt  in  every  department  of  industry  and 
commerce  throughout  the  world.  [Applause.]  I  give 
you  the  following  toast : 

"The  World's  Commercial  Navies.  The  Tie  that 
Binds  Foreign  Nations  in  the  Mutual  Perfor- 
mance OF  Good  Works," 

And  have    the  pleasure   of   introducing    to  you   Mr. 


80 

Heckmann,  Vice-President  of  the  Berlin  Chamber  of 
Commerce.     [Applause.] 

SPEECH  BY   MR.    PAUL   HECKMANN,    VI0E-PEE9IDENT    OF 
THE  BERLIN   CHAMBER   OP    COMMERCE. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  :  The  Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  Berlin  was  delighted  to  receive  your  cour- 
teous invitation  to  the  celebration  of  the  dedication  of 
the  new  building  destined  for  the  uses  of  commerce. 
[Applause.] 

This  Chamber  of  Commerce  can  look  back  upon  an 
unusually  long  period  of  activity,  as  you  are  already  in 
the  second  century  of  your  labors.  You  would  have 
certainly  had  in  former  times  more  diflficulty  in  bringing 
together  for  such  an  exceptional  festive  occasion  the 
representatives  of  all  nations,  and  we  must  to-day 
acknowledge  with  gratitude  that  progressive  industry 
has  produced  all  those  means  which  connect  distant 
countries  with  each  other,  not  only  in  regard  to  prompt 
inter- communication,  but  also  to  a  functional  and  rapid 
transport  of  persons  and  merchandise. 

It  is  the  first  time  that  the  Berlin  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce has  sent  in  oflBcial  capacity  a  representative  to 
your  City,  and  I  have  the  great  honor,  as  their  Vice- 
President,  to  express  our  sincere  thanks  for  the  invita- 
tion, and  our  best  wishes  for  a  continued  reciprocal 
activity  on  the  same  grandiose  scale  as  to-day.  When 
we  admire  the  splendid  new  building  we  are  confident 
that  the  foundation  rests  upon  the  strong  rock  of  com- 
mercial and  industrial  energy,  that  the  corner-stones 
are  joined  by  means  of  mutual  confidence  in  all  busi- 
ness relations,  and  the  commercial  success  will  float  the 
flag  at  the  summit.  My  wishes  culminate  in  the  hope 
that  the  American  flag  may  have  success  in  all  countries 
of  the  world  wherever  industry  and  commerce  may 


81 

exist.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  such  expanded  rela- 
tions will  increase  the  happiness  and  well-being  of  all 
civilized  countries.     [Applause.] 

The  President. — Gentlemen,  I  have  now  the  plea- 
sure of  giving  you  the  last  toast  of  the  evening  : 

"THE  Merchant.  One  of  the  Oldest  of  Human  Pro- 
fessions. He  has  always  been  a  leader  in  the 
historic  march  of  uberty  and  progress." 

This  toast  will  be  responded  to  by  Mr.  William  P. 
Wood,  President  of  the  London  Corn  Trade  Association 
and  delegate  of  the  London  Chamber  of  Commerce.  I 
have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  to  you,  Mr.  Wood. 
[Applause.] 

SPEECH  BY  ME.    WILLIAM    P.    WOOD,   DELEGATE  OF  THE 
LONDON   CHAMBER    OF    COMMERCE. 

'  Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen:  I  am  not  aston- 
ished at  the  enthusiasm  with  which  this  toast  has  been 
received,  because  it  is  virtually  the  toast  of  "our  noble 
selves,"  and  no  one  knows  better  than  those  gentlemen 
who  have  drunk  the  toast  the  excellencies  of  those 
estimable  individuals.  If  I  had  been  responsible,  per- 
haps, for  the  wording,  I  might  have  awarded  the  palm 
of  antiquity,  not  to  the  merchant,  but  to  the  old 
gardener  whose  dismissal  from  his  situation  under 
tragic  and  unfortunate  circumstances  has  been  fraught 
with  such  momentous  consequences  to  posterity,  or  to 
the  ancient  shipbuilder  whose  designs  have  been  so 
familiar  to  us  from  our  childhood,  but  which  would 
hardly  be  taken  nowadays  as  the  most  approved  types 
for  the  best  cattle  carrying  steamers. 


83 

Sir,  the  old  moralist  has  told  us  that  the  world  is 
governed  primarily  by  hunger  and  by  love.     But  I  am 
here  to-night  to  assert,  in  speaking  and  acknovs^ledging 
this  toast  of  "The  Merchant,"  that  the  merchant  no 
less  than  the  lover  or  the  soldier  is,  and  always  has 
been,  an  equally  important  and  a  great  factor  in  carry- 
ing out  and  in  shaping  human  destiny  and  the  history 
of  nations.    For  trade  and  the  inclination  to  trade  are 
instinctive  and  embodied  in  every  one  of  us.     That  is 
to  say  the  desire  to  acquire  something  we  have  not  got, 
the  tendency  and  the  faculty  of  supplying  from  the 
resources  of  one  country  the  deficiencies  of  another. 
Even  those  "combines"  and  "trusts"  to  which  allu- 
sion has  been  made  to-night  had  their  counterpart  in 
the  days  of  old.     Mr.  Cleveland,  in  the  admirable 
address  which  he  gave  us  at  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
this  morning,  alluded  to  an  old  speculation,  the  record 
of  which  has  come  down  to  us  from  the  time  of  the 
early  ages  of  mankind.    And  I  am  sure  that  no  New- 
York  deal  and  no  Chicago  combine  have  ever  been  so 
brilliantly  successful  as  that  old  speculation  in  Egyp- 
tian  wheat.     [Laughter.]    It  is  to   be  hoped,  for  the 
sake  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  of  that  i)eriod,  that  no 
one  had  "sold  short !"     And  some  who  are  gathered  in 
this  room  will  remember  that  striking  passage  in  one  of 
CiCEEo's  works  where  he  discusses  the  conduct  of  the 
captain  of  a  wheat-laden  vessel  who  had  obtained  an 
extravagant   price   from  the    starving    inhabitants  of 
Rhodes  for  his  cargo,  well  knowing  that  at  a  very  short 
distance  a  considerable  wheat-laden  fleet  bound  for  that 
island  lay  becalmed  ;  and  Cicero,  almost  bursting  with 
honest  indignation,  declares  the  conduct  of  that  captain 
to  be  opposed  to  all  his  notions  of  equity  and  right. 
Well,  1800  or  1900  years  of  Christian  civilization  have 
rolled  by  since  then,  but  still  I  don't  think  that  the 
speculators  of    the   present  day  would    unanimously 
endorse  the  verdict  of  that  honest  old  heathen.     [Ap- 
plause.] 


83 

Sir,  at  this  late  hour  of  the  night  I  would  not  inflict 
so  ungrateful  a  return  for  your  lavish  and  generous 
hospitality  as  to  dwell  at  length  on  the  undoubted  fact 
that  the  merchant  is,  if  not  the  oldest,  at  least  one  of 
the  oldest  of  the  professions.  You  will  remember  that 
the  ancestor  of  that  great  and  illustrious  nation,  some 
of  whose  representatives  I  suppose  are  present  in  this 
room  to-night,  paid  for  his  land  purchases  with  300 
shekels,  "  current  money  of  the  merchant,"  and  that 
those  cities  of  antiquity,  Babylon  and  Tyre  and  Car- 
thage, reached  the  meridian  of  their  glory  through  the 
energy  of  their  merchants. 

I  need  not  speak  to  you  of  Venice,  whose  story  has 
an  element  of  romance  mingled  with  her  record,  of 
whom  the  poet  says,  that  "  She  held  the  gorgeous  East 
in  fee,"  while  she  controlled  for  a  long  time  the  com- 
merce of  the  West.  That  story  is  familiar  to  us  from 
our  histories  and  from  the  pages  of  our  Shakespeare. 
I  will  not  speak  to  you  much  of  Spain,  (who,  perhaps, 
in  a  rather  unfortunate  hour  for  herself,  discovered 
America,  and  has  had  her  reward ;  [laughter  ;]  but  at 
any  rate,  the  commercial  enterprise  of  Spain  brought 
into  her  coffers  the  riches  of  the  Spanish  Main  and  all 
the  almost  fabulous  wealth  of  Mexico  and  Peru ;  and  it 
was  not  until  she  sought  to  establish  a  commercial 
tyranny  in  the  Netherlands,  which  was,  perhaps,  not 
less  oppressive  than  the  religious  persecutions  so 
graphically  chronicled  for  us  in  the  pages  of  your  im- 
mortal historian,  Mr.  Motley,  that  the  United  Provinces 
at  last  shook  off  the  yoke  of  Spain,  and  took  their  place 
among  the  pioneers  of  European  civil  and  religious 
liberty. 

Sir,  I  am  reminded  that  nowadays,  in  professions  as 
well  as  in  institutions,  the  justification  for  existence  is 
not  a  question  of  mere  historic  continuity  so  much  as 
of  practical  utility,  and  so  I  will  claim  for  the  merchant 
to-night,  that  not    less  than  in  ancient  times  he  is  a 


84 

necessary  factor  in  the  world's  progress,  and  it  is  a 
pleasing  thought  to  think  with  regard  to  the  merchants 
of  my  own  beloved  country  and  of  that  allied  country 
whose  generous  hospitality  we  are  partaking  of  to- 
night— a  peculiarity  not  confined  to  those  countries 
alone,  but  also  common  to  the  great  European  nations — 
that  the  merchants  are  still  among  "  the  honorable  of 
the  earth." 

It  is  a  fact,  no  less  true  in  economics  than  in  ethics, 
that  "  no  man  liveth  to  himself."  It  is  impossible  for 
either  individuals  or  nations  to  live  long  in  a  state  of 
"splendid  isolation."  Everyman  is,  according  to  the 
designs  of  Providence,  necessarily  a  helper  of  others. 
We  live  on  one  another  and  we  must,  selfish  though  we 
may  be,  we  must  help  one  another.  And  I  claim  for 
the  merchant,  in  accordance  with  the  last  clause  of  the 
toast  that  has  been  put  before  you,  that  he  has  been  a 
leader  in  the  historic  march  of  liberty  and  of  progress. 

Sir,  the  bloodless  victories  that  the  merchant  gains 
are  no  less  honorable  and  no  less  important  to  the  wel- 
fare of  mankind  than  those  which  are  gained  by  the 
more  brutal  agency  of  the  sword.  [Applause.]  It  may 
not  be  for  us  to  live  to  the  time  when  "  men  shall  beat 
their  swords  into  ploughshares  and  their  spears  into 
pruning  hooks,"  but  we  are  certain  of  this,  that  every 
gallant  steamer  that  crosses  the  mighty  Atlantic,  that 
every  step  taken  in  the  direction  of  facilitating  inter- 
course and  of  establishing  and  developing  commercial 
relations,  is  a  strand  ih  the  great  cord  that  is  binding 
the  nations  of  the  world  together. 

Sir,  fresh  as  I  am  from  experiences,  somewhat  varied 
and  not  altogether  agreeable,  of  the  great  Atlantic 
Ocean,  I  can  still  apply  to  England  and  to  America 
those  old  words  of  the  Latin  poet,  ''''Nee  nos  mare 
separat  ingens.''^  And  we  are  sure  of  this,  that  in  pro- 
portion as  we  are  all  as  merchants,  as  individuals,  or  in 
communities,  faithful  to  our  trust  and  to  that  high  ideal 


86 

sketched  out  for  us  by  your  eloquent  President  this 
evening,  we  are  working  one  and  all  in  the  direction  of 
the  establishment  of  the  grand  ideal  of  human  brother- 
hood and  of  universal  peace. 

The  President. — Gentlemen,  in  your  name  I  wish 
to  thank  our  distinguished  guests  for  their  presence 
here  this  evening,  and  ask  you  to  fill  your  glasses  and 
to  drink  to  their  future  health  and  happiness — "Our 
Guests." 

The  toast  was  drunk  standing. 

The  President. — It  is  my  duty  to  say  to  you  that 
this  delightful  entertainment  is  now  closed. 


PARTICIPANTS  IN  THE  BANQUET. 


Fbitz  Achelis, 
Thomas  Achelis, 
Ebnest  R.  Ackerman, 
Edwakd  D,  Adams,  , 

Frederick  T.  Adams, 
Samuel  Adams, 
Adelbeet  H.  Alden, 
James  W.  Alexander, 
Bekjamin  Altman, 
Charles  W.  Anderson, 
Frank  E,  Anderson, 
Francis  R.  Appleton, 
Hicks  Arnold, 
John  L.  Arts, 
John  Jacob  Astor, 
Samuel  P.  Avery, 

Edwin  H.  Baker, 

George  F.  Baker, 

James  B.  Baker, 

William  D.  Baldwin, 

Samuel  Bancroft,  Jr., 

Paul  Barjon, 

George  Clinton  Batcheller, 

Edmund  L.  Baylies, 

Thomas  P.  Beai,, 

George  A.  Beaton, 

MiLO  M.  Belding, 

MiLO  M.  Belding,  Jr., 

ArouBT  Belmont, 


Henry  H.  Benedict, 
James  Benedict, 
George  P.  Benjamin, 
Charles  L.  Bernheimer, 
Samuel  Bettle, 
Hkber  R.  Bishop, 
Eugene  G.  Blackford, 
Cornelius  N.  Bliss, 
Cornelius  N.  Bliss,  Jr., 
Eliphalet  W,  Bliss, 
George  Blumenthal, 
Emil  L.  Boas, 
George  C.  Boldt, 
Max  J.  Bonn, 
Samuel  W.  Boocock, 
Adolph  H.  Borman, 
George  S.  Bowdoin, 
Clarence  Winthrop  Bowen, 
Charles  F.  Brooker, 
William  Brookfield, 
John  Crosby  Brown, 
Vernon  H.  Brown, 
Carl  Brucker, 
Hart  B.  Brundrett, 
Charles  E.  Bulkley, 
Edwin  M.  Bulkley, 
James  A.  Burden, 
J.  Adriance  Bush, 

Henry  A.  Caesar, 


87 


Laurence  J.  CauiAuan, 
Hermann  H.  Cammann, 
Henrt  W.  Cannon, 
James  G.  Cannon, 
Howard  Carroll, 
Charles  F.  Cartledoe, 
John  Cartledge, 
Albert  C.  Case, 
Juan  M.  Ceballos, 
Hugh  J.  Chisholh, 
S.  E.  Churchill, 
John  Claflin, 
Gardiner  K.  Clark,  Jr., 
Thomas  B.  Clarke, 
Henry  Clews, 
Thomas  Clyde, 
William  P.  Clyde, 
John  W.  Cochrane, 
Charles  A.  Coffin, 
William  B.  Cogswell, 
Charles  T.  Cook, 
auguste  j.  cordieb, 
George  H.  Coutts, 
Clarkson  Cowl, 
Samuel  D.  Coykendall, 
Stanley  T.  Cozzens, 
Charles  H.  Crajip, 
John  D.  Crimmins, 
George  A.  Crocker, 
Cornelius  C.  Cutler, 
Thomas  De  Witt  Cutler, 

Joseph  G.  Darlington, 
Henry  P.  Davison, 
Benjamin  M.  Day, 
Edgab  Deal, 
Frank  Dean, 
Adolfhb  De  Baby, 


Eugene  Delano, 
Richard  Delafield, 
William  C.  Demorest, 
Carll  H.  De  Silter, 
Jacob  G.  Dettmkr, 
William  E.  Dodge, 
Thomas  Dolan, 
John  Dougherty, 
Robert  Dun  Douglasi, 
John  R.  DRsrEL, 
John  F.  Dryden, 
William  Dulles,  Jr. 
Stuart  Duncan, 
WiLLiAJf  Butler  Duncan, 
F.  p.  Dunne, 
WnxiAM  N.  Dykman, 

Edward  E.  Eambs, 
Frederick  H.  Eaton, 
Richard  L.  Edwards, 
Earnest  Ehrmann, 
Max  Eisman, 
James  W.  Ellsworth, 
William  L.  Elkins, 
John  B.  Elmendorf. 
Martin  Erdmann, 
Webster  C.  Estbs, 

Harris  Fahnestock, 
Harris  C.  Fahnestock, 
William  .Fahnestock, 
Henry  P.  Fairbanks, 
Charles  S.  Faxrchlld, 
Julian  D.  Faxrchild, 
Samuel  W.  Fairchild, 
GusTAV  Fat.k, 
J,  Sloat  Fassett, 
Marshall  Field, 


88 


AsHBEL  P.  Fitch, 
Henby  M.  Flagleb, 

EWALD  FlEITMANN, 

Austin  B.  Fletchek, 
Charles  R.  Flint. 
Thomas  P.  Fowlbe 
Michael  Fbiedsam, 
howabd  p.  feothinaham, 

Lyman  J.  Gage, 

ROBEBT  M.  GalLAWAY, 

Geobge  Rutledge  Gibson, 
Chables  p.  H,  Qilbeet, 
s.  l.  goldenbebg, 
Henby  Goldman, 
Malcolm  Gbaham, 
William  S.  Gbay, 
B.  J.  Geeenhut, 
Heebebt  L,  Geiggs, 
Clement  A,  Gbiscom, 
Clement  A.  Gbiscom,  Jr. 
Heney  S.  Geovb, 
Isaac  Guggenheim, 
MoBEis  Guggenheim, 

Kalman  Haas, 

COBCELLUS  H.  HaCKETT, 

Henby  H.  Hall, 
John  R.  Hall, 
Joseph  Hamebshlag, 
Stewaet  Haetshobn, 
Geobge  B.  M.  Haevey, 
Chables  Hathaway, 
Edwin  Hawley, 
Aethue  H.  Heaen, 
Geoege  a.  Heaen, 
James  Hedges, 
Homeb  Heminway, 


Henby  Hentz, 
A.  Baeton  Hepbuen, 
Febdinand  Hebmann, 
William  Hestee, 
A.  Fostee  Higgins, 
William  Hillman, 
Fbancis  L.  Hine, 
Albeet  F.  Hochstadtee, 
Geobge  B.  Hodgman, 
Geobge  F.  Hodgman, 
Samuel  V.  Hoffman, 
Edwabd  Holbbook, 
Colgate  Hoyt, 
Jacques    Hubee, 
Alexandee  C.  Humphbeys, 
Abcher  M.  Huntingtojn, 
Thomas  J.  Hueley, 
Claeence  M.  Hyde, 
E.  Fbancis  Hyde, 

Geobge  E.  Ide, 
Silas  A.  Ilsley, 
Adbian  Iselin,  Jr., 

John  H.  Jacqublin, 
Aethue  Cubtiss  James, 
Chables  M.  Jesup, 
Fbank  W,  Jesup, 
MoBEis  K.  Jesup,  President, 
James  G.  Johnson, 
Waltee  S.  Johnston, 
E.  Claeence  Jones, 

John  C.  Kapbe, 
Otto  H.  Kahn, 
Fbanklin  H.  Kalbfleisch, 
RiCHABD  B.  Kelly, 
John  S.  Kennedy, 


89 


Thomas  B.  Kknt, 
Rudolph  Kepplkb, 
Gkokge  a.  Kesslee, 
RoBEBT  J.  Kimball, 
William  F.  Kutg, 
Thomas  Kibkpatrick, 
Charles  J.  Knapp, 

ROLANTJ    F.  KnOEDLKE, 

Herman  C.  Em>LiCH. 
Pekcival  Euhnb, 

Henby  J.  Lamabchs, 
J.  Henry  Lane, 
James  W.  Lane, 
Woodbury  Lanodok, 
Jacob  Lanqeloth, 
Charles  Lanieb, 
Edward  Lauterbach, 
Arthur  B.  Leach, 
William  B.  Lebdb, 
Edward  L.  Lewis, 
Adolph  Lewisohh, 
Alfred  Lichtensteot, 
Frederick  J.  Lismait, 
Lucius  N.  Littaubb, 
James  Loeb, 
C.  Adolphe  Low, 
Charles  H.  Ludinqtoh, 

John  A.  McCall, 
William  H.  McCobd, 
James  McCreery, 
James  McCutcheon, 
John  B.  McDonald, 
George  H.  McFadden, 
Gates  W.  McGarrah, 
James  McGovern, 
Daniel  McEeeyex, 


James  McMahon, 
George  McNetb, 

James  A.  Macdonau>, 
Donald  Mackat, 
Duncan  L.  S.  Maclakrn, 
V.  EVEBIT  Macy, 
John  Mabkle, 
Edgar  L.  Mabston, 
Abistides  Mabtxnez, 
Samuel  Matheb, 
Charles  W.  Maubt, 
Robert  Maxwell, 
Morris  Mayer, 
Herman  A.  Metb, 
Cord  Meyer, 
Habry  H.  Meyer, 
Theodobb  F.  Milleb, 
Wabneb  Milleb, 

SETH  M.  Mn.T.TKEN, 

Dabius  O.  Mills, 
Fbancis  L.  Minton, 
J,  J.  Mitchell, 
Geobge  B.  Moffat, 
Charles  A.  Moobs, 
WlLLIAX  H.  Moobb, 
J.  PiEBPOirr  Morgan, 
Henby  Mobgbnthau, 
EIffinoham  B.  Mobbis, 
David  M.  Mobbibon, 
Geobge  Austin  Mobrison, 
Chables  W.  Mobss, 
E.  Rollins  Mobsb, 
Levi  P.  Mobton, 
Fbank  a.  Munbbt, 

William  A.  Nash 
Max  Nathan, 


90 


Aaron  Naumburg, 
Elkan  Naumburg, 
George  W.  Naumburg, 
Walter  W.  Naumburg, 

LUDWIG  NiSSEN, 

Lewis  Nixon, 

Frank  Louis  Nugent, 

William  C.  Oastler, 
Edward  C.  O'Brien, 
Adolph  S.  Ochs, 
Joseph  Offenbach, 
Robert  C.  Ogden, 
Robert  Olyphant, 
Adolph  Openhym, 
Calvin  B.  Orcutt, 

Francis  F.  Palmer, 
George  Q.  Palmer, 
Nicholas  F.  Palmer, 
Frederic  A.  Parsons, 
William  H,  Parsons, 
A.  J.  Paterson, 
Charles  H,  Patrick, 
Charles  J.  Peabouy, 
George  Foster  Peabody, 
George  W.  Perkins, 
William  R.  Peters, 
James  W.  Pinch  ot, 
Frederick  S.  Pinkus, 
RuEL  W.  Poor, 
William  H.  Porter, 
Thomas  Potts, 
John  F.  Praeger, 
Charles  M.  Pratt, 
Dallas  B.  Pratt, 
John  D.  Probst, 
Robert  C.  Pruyn, 


Jambs  A.  Punderpord, 
William  A.  Putnam, 

Dick  S.  Ramsay, 
Arthur  E.  Randle, 
Anton  A.  Raven, 
James  I.  Raymond, 
Peter  Reid, 
John  Harsen  Rhoades, 
Bradford  Rhodes, 
Charles  L.  Rickerson, 
John  L.  Riker, 
Stephen  W.  Roach, 
Andrew  J.  Robinson, 
George  H.  Robinson, 
George  N.  Robinson, 
John  D.  Rockefeller, 
Henry  A.  Rogers, 
William  I.  Rosenfeld, 
William  A.  Ross, 
William  Rowland, 
James  C.  Russell, 

Harry  Sachs, 
William  Salomon, 
George  H.  Sargent, 
Henry  Schaefer, 
George  Edgar  Schanck, 
Frederick  B.  Schenck, 
William  Scherer, 
Charles  Scheuer, 
Charles  A.  Schieren, 
Jacob  H.  Schipf, 
Mortimer  L.  Schiff, 
Leo  Schlesinoer, 
Grant  B.  Schley, 
Daniel  Schnakenberq 
GusTAV  H.  Schwab, 


91 


H.  J,  Seaman, 
Clabknce  W.  Skamans, 
Isaac  N.  Seligmajt, 
Georgb  F.  Sewabd, 
RAIiPH  L.  Shainwauj, 
Albebt  R.  Shattuck, 
Chkistopheb  C.  Shatnb, 
George  R.  SnEiiDON, 
Augustus  D.  Shepabd, 
George  Sherman, 
Herman  Sielcekn, 
Charles  H.  Simmons, 
J.  Edward  Simmons, 
William  A.  Simonson, 
John  J.  Sinclair, 
Amory  T.  Skerry, 
William  Skinner, 
Henry  T.  Sloane, 
John  Sloane, 
William  Sloane, 
William  D.  Sloane, 
Alfred  H.  Smith, 
Q.  Waldo  Smith, 
Howard  C.  Smith, 
Jaiiies  Henry  Smith, 
Robert  A.  C.  Smith, 
Francis  S.  Smithebs, 
Valentine  P.  Snyder, 
Julio  F.  Sorzano, 
Lewis  H.  Spence, 
Samuel  Spencer, 
James  Speyer, 
John  H.  Starin, 
Isaac  Stern, 
Leopold  Stern, 
Louis  Stern, 
John  A.  Stewart, 
Lispenard  Stewart, 


William  Rhinelander  Stewart, 

James  Stillman, 

Edward  T.  Stotesbury, 

IsiDOR  Straus, 

Nathan  Straus, 

Benjamin  Strong, 

Lionel  Sutro, 

Richard  Sutro, 

J.  Howard  Sweetskr, 

Edward  N.  Tailbr, 
Gage  E.  Tarbell, 
Daniel  C.  Tate, 
Stevenson  Taylor, 
John  T,  Terry, 
William  B.  Thom, 
Ransom  H.  Thomas, 
Myles  Tierney, 
Frank  Tilford, 
John  S.  Telnet, 
William  H.  B,  Totten, 
William  H.  Truesdale, 
George  R.  Turnbull, 

Frederick  D.  Underwood, 

Anthony  Van  Bergen, 
Harman  B.  Vanderhobv, 
Albert  H.  Vernam, 
George  F.  Vietor, 
Walther  Vom  Rath, 
GusTATE  Von  Bruening, 
Herbert  H.  Vreeland, 

Frederic  C.  Wagner, 
William  L  Walter, 
John  Wanamakkr, 
Felix  M.  Warburg, 


92 


PaxjIi  M.  Wabburg, 
George  Gray  Ward, 
John  I.  Waterbury, 
Edwin  H.  Weatherbkb, 
Silas  D.  Webb, 
George  B.  Weed, 
Aaron  Weil, 
W.  Storrs  Wells, 
Schuyler  S.  Wheeler, 
Clarence  Whitman, 
Cassius  M.  Wicker, 
Edward  A.  Wickes, 
Peter  A.  B.  Widbnbr, 
Joseph  C.  Willetts, 
George  G.  Williams, 
Charles  S.  Wills, 
Charles  T.  Wills, 
George  Wilson, 
George  T.  Wilson, 


Henry  R.  Wilson, 
John  A.  Wilson, 
John  W.  Wilson, 
Marshall  Ormb  Wilson, 
Richard  T.  Wilson, 
Richard  T.  Wilson,  Jr. 
Frank  S.  Witherbee, 
Lewis  S.  Wolff, 
Stewart  L.  Woodford, 
William  H.  Woodin, 
James  T.  Woodward, 

Arthur  G.  Yates, 
Edward  P.  C.  Young, 
George  W.  Young. 
Richard  Young, 

Cornelius  Zabriskib, 


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A   BRIEF   HISTORY 

or  THS 

CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE 

0»  THB 

STATE  OF  NEW^  YORK. 
1768-1902. 


The  Chamber  of  Commerce  had  its  origin  in  a  meet- 
ing of  twenty  representative  merchants  of  the  City  of 
New- York  on  Tuesday,  the  6th  of  April,  1768.  Their 
names  were  as  follows  : 


John  Crugeb, 
Elias  Desbrosses, 
James  Jauncey, 
Jacob  Walton, 
Robert  Murray, 
Hugh  Wallace, 
George  Folliot, 
William  Walton, 
Samuel  Verplanck, 
Theophylact  Baohe, 


Thomas  White, 
Miles  Sherbrooke, 
Walter  Franklin, 
Robert  Ross  Waddle, 
Acheson  Thompson, 
Lawrence  Kortright, 
Thomas  Randal, 
William  McAdam, 
Isaac  Low, 
Anthony  Van  Dam. 


The  place  of  meeting  was  Bolton  &  Sigell's,  later 
known  as  Fraunoes'  Tavern,  which  occupied  the 
building  still  standing  on  the  southeast  corner  of 
Broad  and  Pearl  Streets.     The  fame  of  some  of  the 


94 

founders  of  the  Chamber  has  lived  after  them  in  the 
records  of  their  State  and  country,  and  their  local  emi- 
nence is  attested,  even  to  modern  ears,  by  the  names  of 
the  City  streets,  which  still  perpetuate  the  esteem  in 
which  was  held  the  Uesbrosses,  the  Murrays,  the 
Whites,  the  Franklins,  the  Thompsons  and  the  Van 
Dams.  In  the  preamble  to  the  proceedings  of  the 
meeting  it  was  set  forth  that  mercantile  societies  have 
been  found  very  useful  in  trading  cities  for  promoting 
and  encouraging  commerce,  supporting  industry,  ad- 
justing disputes  relative  to  trade  and  navigation,  and 
procuring  such  laws  and  regulations  as  may  be  found 
necessary  for  the  benefit  of  trade  in  general,  and  then 
and  there  it  was  resolved  to  establish  such  a  society  in 
the  City  of  New- York,  to  be  known  by  the  name  of 
The  New- York  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

The  specific  character  of  the  questions  to  be  consid- 
ered by  the  Chamber  was  left  to  develop  as  time  went 
on.  But  we  may  be  permitted  to  assume  that  certain 
unavowed  influences  had  their  share  in  bringing  the 
solid  men  of  New- York  together  on  that  April  evening 
one  hundred  and  thirty-four  years  ago.  To  a  man, 
they  were  loyal  subjects  of  the  British  crown,  but  there 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  they  were  also  fully 
impressed  with  the  necessity  for  united  action  on  the 
part  of  the  American  Colonies  in  support  of  the  right  to 
be  taxed  only  through  their  own  representatives.  This 
was  already  the  burning  question  of  the  time.  The 
Stamp  Act  had  been  passed  by  the  British  Parliament 
in  1765,  and  repealed  a  year  later  at  the  instance  of  the 
eloquent  defender  of  colonial  rights,  William  Pitt. 
It  was  the  first  president  of  the  Chamber,  John  Ciiuger, 
who,  as  Mayor  of  New- York,  demanded  and  received 
the  surrender  of  the  obnoxious  stamps  which  had  been 
sent  over  from  England,  and  were  held  ready  for  use 
in  the  custody  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the 
Province.     The  names  of  the  organizers  of  the  Chamber 


95 

appear  in  the  list  of  two  hundred  New- York  merchants, 
who  bound  themselves,  by  solemn  agreement,  on  the 
31st  of  October,  to  trade  no  more  with  Great  Britain 
until  the  Stamp  Act  was  repealed.  It  was  John 
Ceuger  who  was  the  author  of  the  clear,  concise  and 
able  "Declaration  of  Rights  and  Grievances  of  the 
Colonists  in  America,"  issued  by  the  First  Congress  of 
the  American  Colonies,  held  in  New- York  City  in  Oc- 
tober, 1765,  and  he  was  a  member  of  the  Provincial 
Assembly,  which  was  dissolved  almost  as  soon  as  it 
convened,  in  February,  1768,  because  of  its  determined 
resistance  to  the  extension  of  the  Mutiny  Act  and  the 
Quartering  Act  to  the  Colonies.  Isaac  Low,  another 
of  the  organizers  of  the  Chamber,  and  its  last  Colonial 
President,  took  an  equally  prominent  part  in  the  efforts 
to  bring  the  British  Ministry  to  see  the  folly  of  denying 
to  the  colonies  the  full  possession  of  their  inheritance 
of  English  liberty,  but  it  was  characteristic  of  both 
men,  and  in  this  they  shared  the  views  of  the  vast 
majority  of  their  associates  in  the  New- York  Chamber, 
that,  they  believed  the  wrongs  of  the  colonies  could  be 
redressed  without  separation  from  the  mother  country. 
They  were  among  those  who  felt  that  it  was  a  desertion 
of  the  men  who  had  fought  their  cause  in  the  British 
Parliament  to  break  away  from  them  forever.  Both 
insisted  to  the  last  on  awaiting  the  action  of  the  King 
and  the  Houses  of  Parliament  on  the  representations 
made  to  them  of  the  grievances  of  the  colonies,  and 
both  were  left  to  lament  the  failure  of  the  resources  of 
statesmanship  to  settle  questions  which,  in  the  irresist- 
able  current  of  events,  had  already  been  subjected  to 
the  arbitrament  of  arms. 

But  if  moderation  was  the  keynote  of  the  policy  of 
the  founders  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  during  the 
stormy  seven  years  that  preceded  the  Revolution,  that 
policy  was  never  deficient  in  firmness.  In  the  second 
year  of  its  existence  the  Chamber  received  the  thanks 


U6 

of  the  House  of  Assembly  of  the  Provincial  Legislature 
for  the  patriotic  conduct  of  its  members  in  declining  the 
importation  of  goods  from  Great  Britain  at  this  junc- 
ture, and  until  the  acts  of  Parliament,  which  the  As- 
sembly had  declared  unconstitutional  and  subversive  of 
the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people  of  the  colonies, 
should  be  repealed.  A  year  later  a  Merchants'  Commit- 
tee of  which  Isaac  Low  was  at  the  head,  found  occasion 
to  remind  the  merchants  of  Boston  of  their  persistent  dis- 
regard of  the  non- importation  pledge  and  to  declare  that 
"the  conduct  of  the  merchants  of  this  city  has  always 
been  agreeable  to  their  public  declarations  and  agree- 
ments ;  they  have  never  deceived  their  neighbors,  but 
have  most  religiously  maintained  their  engagements." 

The  tendency  of  the  time  was  toward  union,  and  the 
impelling  motive  of  the  organization  of  the  Chamber 
was  unquestionably  the  sense  of  a  common  interest  and 
the  feeling  of  a  common  danger.  Added  to  this  there 
was  in  New- York  a  growing  perception  of  the  great 
future  which  awaited  the  City  and  its  commerce.  The 
population  of  the  City  in  1768  was  estimated  at  only 
20,000,  and  the  volume  of  its  trade  was  considerably 
less  than  that  of  either  Philadelphia  or  Boston,  but,  as 
Charles  O' Conor  has  said,  "The  chartered  City  of 
New- York  had,  from  the  beginning,  an  imperial  status." 
The  grant  given  in  1686  by  Thomas  Dongan,  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor and  Vice- Admiral  of  New- York  under 
His  Majesty  James  II.,  recognized  the  possession  by 
the  citizens  of  this  ancient  city  of  "sundry  rights,  lib- 
erties, privileges,  franchises,  free  customs,  pre-emi- 
nences, advantages,  jurisdictions,  emoluments  and 
immunities,  as  well  by  prescription  as  by  charter,  letters 
patent,  grants  and  confirmations,"  &c.,  beginning  with 
the  high  officers  of  the  Nether-Dutch  nation  and  re- 
maining intact  to  that  time.  These  were  confirmed  and 
amplified  under  the  seal  of  His  Majesty  George  II.  in 
an  instrument  known  as  the  Montgomerie  Charter,  so 


97 

named  after  the  Governor  of  the  State  in  the  year  of 
grace  1730.  Following  the  recital  of  preliminary  grants 
this  document  makes  the  British  sovereign  say,  "  We 
of  our  own  especial  grace,  certain  knowledge  and  mere 
motion,  have  willed,  ordained,  constituted,  confirmed, 
given  and  granted  *  *  that  our  said  City  of  New- 
York  be,  and  from  henceforth  forever  shall  be,  and 
remain  a  free  city  of  itself." 

From  the  first  the  Chamber  concerned  itself  with  the 
removal  of  obstacles  to  the  development  of  the  trade  of 
the  port.  Next  to  the  vexatious  questions  relating  to 
the  acceptance  of  the  paper  currency  of  the  neighboring 
colonies,  the  topic  which  recurs  of  tenest  in  the  minutes 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  Chamber  concerns  the  price 
and  quality  of  flour,  the  staple  product  of  the  colony 
and  the  chief  article  of  its  export.  A  price  was  fixed 
beyond  which  no  member  was  to  go  in  paying  for  flour 
and  bread  casks,  and  precautions  were  adopted  to  detect 
fraud  in  their  weight  when  filled.  The  bolters,  millers, 
bakers  and  sellers  of  flour  having  made  a  combination 
to  oppose  this  resolution  of  the  Chamber,  an  agent  was 
deputed  to  go  to  Philadelphia  and  purchase  there  from 
1,500  to  2,000  barrels  of  flour,  to  be  shipped  to  New- 
York,  members  to  be  supplied  with  what  they  needed, 
and  the  remainder  to  be  sold.  This  vigorous  action 
brought  the  flour  dealers  and  bakers  promptly  to  terms. 
Then  the  Chamber  proceeded  to  advocate  a  more  rigid 
system  of  flour  inspection,  on  the  ground  that  while 
Philadelphia  flour  had  the  better  reputation,  the  wheat 
brought  from  the  North  River  in  particular  was  much 
better  than  any  carried  to  Philadelphia,  and  that,  there- 
fore, any  inferiority  of  New- York  to  Philadelphia  must 
be  ascribed  to  defect  in  the  manufacture  and  to  the 
present  mode  of  inspection.  The  Chamber  did  not  stop 
short  at  recommending  improved  methods  of  inspecting 
flour,  but  took  measures  to  encourage  the  importation 
of  French  burr  stones  for  grinding  the  wheat,  to  whose 


98 

use  was  attributed  part  of  the  reputation  gained  for 
Philadelphia  flour  at  the  expense  of  the  New-York 
product.  In  its  concern  for  the  reputation  of  the  great 
staple  of  the  colony,  the  Chamber,  in  these  old  days, 
did  not  forget  to  maintain  the  standard  of  other  ex- 
ports, and  it  devoted  much  time  and  consideration  to 
aflBxing  a  stable  value  to  the  coins  then  in  use,  as  well 
as  to  regulating  the  procedure  as  to  bills  of  exchange 
and  prescribing  rates  of  commission  for  transacting 
different  kinds  of  business.  The  adjustment  of  differ- 
ences between  parties  agreeing  to  leave  the  settlement 
of  mercantile  disputes  to  the  Chamber  was  stated  as  one 
of  its  objects  in  the  resolution  under  which  it  was  or- 
ganized, and  at  its  first  regular  meeting  a  Committee  of 
Arbitration,  consisting  of  seven  members,  was  appointed 
to  meet  every  Tuesday,  or  oftener,  if  business  required. 
A  new  Committee  was  appointed  every  month  for  this 
purpose,  and  at  the  meeting  of  May,  1769,  it  was  or- 
dered that  the  business  coming  before  these  monthly 
Committees  should  be  entered  on  the  minutes  of  the 
Chamber. 

Before  the  Chamber  had  been  a  year  in  existence,  its 
founders  were  able  to  say  that  it  included  in  its  mem- 
bership the  greater  number  of  the  merchants  of  the 
City.  At  the  close  of  1769,  it  was  proposed  by  Isaac 
Low,  "as  it  would  tend  greatly  to  promote  the  benevo- 
lent intentions  of  this  Chamber  to  have  it  incorporated, 
under  proper  regulations ;  and,  as  there  is  the  greatest 
reason  to  expect  from  His  Honor  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  and  his  Council  all  the  countenance  and  pro- 
tection which  so  useful  an  infant  institution  justly 
merits,"  that  a  Committee  be  appointed  to  wait  on  the 
Lieutenant-Governor,  "praying  the  favor  of  him  to 
invest  it  with  a  charter  granting  such  privileges  as  may 
be  conceived  most  advancive  of  the  important  ends 
intended  by  it."  What  the  Committee  did  present  at 
a  special  meeting  of  February  loth,  1770,  was  a  draft  of 


a  petition  to  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  setting  forth  on 
the  part  of  John  Cruger,  "President  of  a  Society  of 
Merchants  of  the  City  of  New- York,  associated  for  pro- 
moting trade  and  commerce :"  That  the  said  Society, 
sensible  that  numberless  inestimable  benefits  have 
accrued  to  mankind  from  commerce,  that  they  are  in 
proportion  to  their  greater  or  lesser  application  to  it, 
more  or  less  opulent  and  potent  in  all  countries  ;  and 
that  the  enlargement  of  trade  will  vastly  increase  the 
value  of  real  estates  as  well  as  the  general  opulence  of 
this  colony ;  have  associated  together  for  some  time 
past,  in  order  to  carry  into  execution,  amongst  them- 
selves, and  by  their  example,  to  promote  in  others  such 
measures  as  were  beneficial  to  these  salutary  purposes. 
And  the  said  Society  having,  with  great  pleasure  and 
satisfaction  experienced  the  good  effects  which  the  few 
regulations  already  adopted  have  produced,  are  very 
desirous  of  rendering  them  more  extensively  useful  and 
permanent,  and  more  adequate  to  the  purposes  of  so 
benevolent  an  institution.  The  petitioner,  therefore,  in 
behalf  of  the  Chamber,  most  humbly  prayed  the 
Lieutenant-Grovernor  to  incorporate  them  as  a  Body 
Politic,  and  to  invest  them  with  such  powers  and 
authorities  as  may  be  thought  most  conducive  to  answer 
and  promote  the  commercial,  and  consequently  the 
landed  interests  of  the  growing  colony. 

To  a  Committee  of  the  Chamber  which  waited  on  him 
on  the  24th  of  March,  1770,  Lieutenant-Governor 
CoLDEN,  after  an  appropriate  exchange  of  compliments, 
delivered  the  charter,  which,  in  the  name  of  his  Majesty 
George  the  Third,  recited  the  terms  of  Mr.  Cruger's 
petition,  and  constituted  and  appointed  the  then  mem- 
bers of  the  Chamber  and  their  successors  to  be  forever 
hereafter  One  Body  Corporate  and  Politick  in  Deed, 
Fact,  and  Name,  by  the  Name,  Style,  and  Title  of 
"The  Corporation  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  the 
City  of  New-York  in  America," 


100 

The  previously  adopted  articles  of  the  Chamber  were 
embodied  in  the  Charter,  and  were  accompanied  by  cer- 
tain rights  and  privileges  appropriate  to  such  a  body. 
Among  these,  was  the  right  to  purchase,  take,  hold, 
receive  and  enjoy  real  estate  in  the  annual  value  of 
three  thousand  pounds  sterling,  to  have  a  common  seal, 
to  serve  for  the  causes  and  business  of  them  and  their 
successors,  and  to  erect  and  build  out  of  their  common 
funds,  or  by  any  other  ways  or  means,  any  house, 
houses,  or  other  buildings,  as  they  shall  think  necessary 
and  convenient  for  the  use  of  the  corporation. 

The  original  of  this  venerable  instrument  is  unfortu- 
nately lost.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution,  it  was 
apparently  in  the  custody  of  William  Walton,  who 
was  President  of  the  Chamber  from  1774  to  1775. 
When  his  son  Jacob,  who  became  a  Rear-Admiral  in 
the  British  Navy,  returned  to  New- York  and  took  pos- 
session of  the  famous  old  Walton  House,  in  Franklin 
Square,  in  1822,  among  a  vast  accumulation  of  miscel- 
laneous lumber,  boxes,  baskets  and  chests,  articles  of 
domestic  economy,  dragoon  saddles,  and  Hessian  mus- 
kets, in  the  spacious  attic  of  the  old  mansion,  was  found 
the  original  charter  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce.  It 
was  very  large,  about  three  feet  in  width,  with  the  mas- 
sive wax  seal  of  the  crown,  six  inches  in  diameter, 
attached,  and  the  whole  carefully  encased  in  tin  and 
enclosed  in  mahogany.  The  document  was  transferred 
to  the  rooms  occupied  by  the  Chamber  in  the  Mer- 
chants' Exchange,  on  the  site  of  the  present  Custom 
House,  and  though  it  is  believed  to  have  been  pre- 
served when  that  building  was  destroyed  by  fire  in 
1835,  no  trace  has  ever  been  found  of  it.  The  original 
seal  of  the  Chamber,  a  massive  disk  of  silver,  three 
inches  in  diameter,  is  still  in  use,  but  was,  by  the 
merest  chance,  rescued  from  oblivion.  Some  years  after 
the  Revolution,  a  gentleman  interested  in  the  affairs  of 
this  country,   in  looking  through    the    miscellaneous 


101 

stock  of  a  sort  of  old  cariosity  shop  in  London,  discov- 
ered this  signet  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  New- 
York.  He  immediately  secured  it  and  restored  it  to  its 
proper  custody,  and  the  modesty  of  our  fellow  country- 
man may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  no  record 
remains  of  his  name. 

It  seems  to  have  been  the  fate  of  everything  pertain- 
ing to  the  colonial  history  of  the  Chamber  to  become 
treasure-trove.  Prospek  M.  Wetmoke,  who  became 
Secretary  of  the  Chamber  in  1843,  records  that  when  he 
entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  he  received 
but  a  single  volume  of  minutes  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  Chamber,  and  could  not  learn  that  any  previous 
volumes  were  extant.  Not  content  to  believe,  however, 
that  the  history  of  so  ancient  a  corporation  could  be 
thus  imperfect,  he  began  to  trace  affairs  back  for  a 
number  of  years,  and  was  fortunate  enough  to  find,  in 
a  lumber  box  at  a  store  in  Front  Street,  the  two 
volumes  of  early  records  now  in  the  possession  of  the 
Chamber,  and  published  under  the  editorship  of  John 
Austin  Stevens  in  1867,  Secretary  at  that  time.  Tbey 
form  a  complete  series  from  the  organization  of  the  insti- 
tution in  1768  to  the  time  when  the  more  modern  rec- 
ords begin.  To  appreciate  a  further  discovery  made  by 
Mr.  Wetmore,  it  is  necessary  to  explain  that  in  order 
to  show  its  gratitude  to  Lieutenant-Governor  Colden 
for  favoring  the  corporation  with  a  charter,  and  as 
there  "happened  to  be  a  good  limner  in  town,"  the 
Chamber  resolved  to  ask  Mr.  Colden  to  sit  for  his 
portrait.  The  painting  was  made  by  Matthew  Pkatt, 
of  Philadelphia,  and  £37  was  duly  paid  to  the  artist. 
It  originally  hung  in  the  long  room,  over  the  Exhange, 
which  was  occupied  by  the  Chamber  from  1770  to  1775. 
At  the  close  of  the  war  it  seems  to  have  fallen  into  the 
keeping  of  the  family  of  the  Lieu  tenant- Governor, 
since,  on  the  1st  day  of  February,  1791,  there  is  an 
entry  on  the  minutes  of  the  Chamber  to  the  effect  that 


103 

a  picture  of  Cadwallader  Coldest,  Esq.,  was  reported 
to  be  in  good  preservation,  and  in  hands  which  were 
willing  to  restore  it  to  the  former  owners.  The  picture 
was  returned  by  the  son  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor, 
and  was  placed  upon  the  walls  of  the  room  used  by  the 
Chamber  in  the  Merchants'  Coffee  House,  and  after- 
wards, on  their  changing  their  place  of  meeting,  to  the 
Tontine  Building,  in  1795,  it  was  removed  to  that  place. 
In  April,  1817,  this  picture,  together  with  the  fine  full- 
length  of  Hamilton,  by  Trumbull,  also  the  property 
of  the  Chamber,  was  lent  for  exhibition  to  the  American 
Association  of  Fine  Arts,  and  the  two  portraits  con- 
tinued for  many  years  to  make  a  part  of  the  exhibition 
of  the  Academy.  When  the  Chamber  took  possession 
of  their  rooms  in  the  Merchants'  Exchange  in  May,  1827, 
it  was  ordered  that  the  pictures  should  be  repaired, 
their  frames  re-gilded,  and  that  they  be  hung  in  the 
hall,  which  was  on  the  lower  floor  of  the  building,  on 
the  right  of  the  main  entrance.  On  the  morning  of 
December  16,  1835,  the  second  day  of  the  great  fire, 
they  were  saved  from  the  flames  which  consumed  the 
building,  and,  covered  with  canvas,  they  were  deposited 
in  the  garret  of  a  store  in  Wall  Street.  It  was  here 
that  Mr.  Wetmore  found  them  in  1843,  under  a  coat  of 
mildew  and  dust.  The  injuries  resulting  from  long 
exposure  and  somewhat  careless  handling  were  soon 
repaired,  and  the  pictures  were  transferred  to  the 
gallery  of  the  Historical  Society,  and  now  they  stand  at 
the  head  of  the  gallery  of  portraits  which  Mr.  Wet- 
more  hoped,  fifty-four  years  ago,  would  one  day  occupy 
a  building  provided  for  the  special  accommodation  of 
the  Chamber. 

Before  passing  from  the  pre-revolutionary  history  of 
the  Chamber  there  is  one  point  which  ought  to  be 
recorded,  and  that  is  the  distinguished  part  which  its 
chief  members  bore  in  the  public  life  of  that  time,  and 
the  close  touch  that  was  preserved  between  the  Chamber 


103 

and  the  legislative  body  of  the  province.  We  have  al- 
ready referred  to  the  occupancy  by  John  Cruger,  the 
first  President  of  the  Chamber,  of  the  mayoralty  of  the 
City — an  office  which  he  held  for  ten  successive  years. 
While  still  mayor,  Mr.  Cruger  was  elected  member  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Colony,  and  became,  in 
1761,  one  of  that  famous  body,  the  Long  Assembly,  to 
whose  patriotism  and. courage  the  union  of  the  colonies 
and  the  successful  vindication  of  American  liberties 
was  in  very  large  measure  due.  Of  the  last  Colonial 
Assembly,  which  met  in  1769,  Mr.  Cruger  was  unani- 
mously chosen  Speaker,  retaining  this  position  until 
1775,  when  it  adjourned  never  to  meet  again.  The 
second  President  of  the  Chamber,  Hugh  Wallace, 
was  a  member  of  the  Governor's  Council ;  the  third, 
Elias  Desbrosses,  served  for  three  years  as  Alderman 
of  the  East  Ward  ;  the  fourth,  Henry  White,  sat  for 
seven  years  at  the  Council  Board  of  the  Governor,  and 
the  seventh,  Isaac  Low,  was  one  of  the  five  delegates, 
three  of  whom  were  merchants  and  members  of  the 
Chamber,  elected  as  representatives  of  the  City  and 
County  of  New- York  to  the  first  Continental  Congress. 
In  1773,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Colony  voted  to 
the  Chamber  £200  for  five  years,  in  order  to  encourage  a 
better  fish  supply  in  the  New- York  markets,  and  the 
latest  colonial  records  of  the  Chamber  are  occupied 
with  the  details  of  awards  made  to  the  owners  and 
crews  of  fishing  vessels. 

Between  August,  1774,  and  the  annual  meeting  of 
May,  1776,  there  was  but  once  a  quorum  of  members 
present  for  the  despatch  of  business,  and  from  that  day 
till  June,  1779,  the  monthly  meetings  were  interrupted. 
When  they  were  resumed,  New- York  was  under  mili- 
tary law,  and  was  the  headquarters  of  the  British  army 
in  America,  the  commandant  of  the  garrison  being 
responsible  for  the  government  of  the  City,  In  1778, 
His  Majesty's  commissioners — the  Earl  of  Carlisle, 


104 

GfEORGE  Johnstone  and  William  Eaton — who  had 
been  appointed  to  try  to  come  to  terms  with  the 
colonies  in  revolt,  issued  a  proclamation  in  which  they 
announced  their  desire  "to  give  all  immediate  relief 
and  security  to  the  trade  carried  on  by  His  Majesty's 
loyal  subjects  at  the  port  of  New- York,"  and  they 
therefore  suspend  so  much  of  the  acts  of  Parliament  of 
1776  as  prevented  the  exportation  of  goods  formerly 
allowed  to  be  shipped  from  this  port  to  Great  Britain, 
Ireland,  Newfoundland,  Halifax,  Rhode  Island,  East 
and  West  Florida,  and  the  British  West  Indies.  The 
increase  of  commerce  in  consequence  of  the  latitude 
which  it  thus  derived  was  assigned  as  a  reason  for  sum- 
moning as  many  members  of  the  Chamber  as  were  then 
in  New- York  to  meet  in  the  upper  long  room  of  the 
Merchants'  Coffee  House  on  June  21st,  1779.  Twenty 
answered  the  call,  and  the  established  routine  of  busi- 
ness was  resumed,  with  such  variations  as  the  peculiar 
conditions  of  the  time  demanded.  For  example,  the 
commandant  asked  the  aid  of  the  Chamber  in  determin- 
ing the  means  to  be  used  for  the  better  cleansing  of  the 
City  and  for  the  raising  of  a  necessary  fund  for  defray- 
ing the  expenses  thereof,  as  likewise  to  propose  such 
fines  and  penalties  as  may  be  thought  sufficient  to  pre- 
vent the  inhabitants  from  throwing  their  filth  and  rub- 
bish into  the  streets.  The  commandant  further  re- 
quested the  Chamber  to  lay  before  him  a  table  of  such 
rates  as  they  thought  ought  to  be  allowed  to  cartmen  in 
the  City,  and  much  matter  relating  to  the  artifices  prac- 
tised by  the  bakers  to  take  undue  advantage  of  the 
community  in  these  times  of  stress  came  up  for  discus- 
sion. The  Chamber  found  occasion,  in  1781,  to  memor- 
alize  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  the  British  Commander-in- 
Chief,  regarding  the  burdens  illegally  laid  on  the 
imports  of  New- York  and  to  make  representations  to 
Admiral  Arbuthnot  in  regard  to  what  was  deemed  the 
inadequate  protection  afforded  the  commerce  of    the 


100 

port  by  his  Majesty's  ships  of  war.  During  the  whole 
period  of  the  occupation  of  the  City  by  the  British,  the 
authorities,  both  naval  and  military,  relied  very  much 
upon  the  influence  and  exertions  of  the  Chamber  to 
render  their  rule  of  the  City  easy  and  acceptable,  and 
the  co-operation  of  the  Chamber  was  both  zealously  and 
effectively  given. 

The  first  meeting  held  after  the  evacuation  of  the 
City  was  on  the  20th  of  April,  1784.  This  was  called 
under  a  law  passed  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of 
New- York  upon  the  petition  of  many  members  who 
dissented  from  the  course  of  the  Chamber  while  the 
City  was  in  the  occupation  of  the  British,  and  who  were 
advised  that  the  charter  was  by  misuser  forfeited,  and 
therefore  required  a  new  sanction  from  the  State.  The 
Legislature  granted  the  prayer  of  the  petition  and  passed 
a  law  entitled  "  An  Act  to  remove  doubts  concerning 
the  Corporation  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  to 
confirm  the  rights  and  privileges  thereof,"  under  which 
the  name  of  the  Chamber  was  changed  to  that  of  "  The 
Corporation  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State 
of  New- York."  Under  this  act  the  royal  letters  patent 
and  all  the  other  powers,  rights,  privileges,  franchises 
and  immunities  granted  under  the  old  charter  were 
ratified  and  confirmed,  and  the  new  corporation  was 
formally  made  the  successor  of  the  Corporation  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  City  of  New- York  in 
America. 

The  first  President  of  the  re-incorporated  Chamber 
was  John  Alsop.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
old  Chamber,  for  though  not  present  at  the  first  meet- 
ing in  1768,  he  was  named  on  the  minutes  with  three 
others  as  assenting  to  the  resolutions  then  adopted. 
Though  men's  passions  had  been  violently  stirred  by  the 
confiict  of  the  preceding  nine  years,  though  many 
friendships  had  been  severed  and  the  members  of  many 
families  divided  against  each  other,  the  fact  that  Mr. 


106 

Alsop  was  the  unanimous  choice  of  his  fellow- merchants 
for  the  Presidency  of  the  Chamber  is  equally  a  testi- 
mony to  the  integrity  of  his  character  and  to  the  large- 
minded  generosity  of  those  composing  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  at  that  transition  time.  For  Mr.  Alsop, 
while  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  those  identified  with 
the  struggle  for  colonial  rights,  was  emphatically  in 
favor  of  moderation  and  compromise,  and,  in  a  letter 
to  the  Provincial  Convention  of  New-York  in  1776  he 
had  expressed  his  disappointment  at  the  course  of  Con- 
gress in  closing  the  door  against  reconciliation  with 
Great  Britain.  A  later  exhibition  of  the  same  spirit 
which  dictated  the  election  of  John  Alsop  is  to  be 
found  in  the  resolution  of  the  Chamber  of  February, 
1787,  to  the  effect  that  such  merchants  as  were  members 
of  the  corporation  antecedent  to  the  confirmation  of  the 
charter  by  a  law  of  the  State  of  New- York  should  be 
admitted  and  declared  to  be  members  thereof,  provided 
they  attend  the  Chamber  at  a  stated  meeting  and  sig- 
nify their  consent  to  be  considered  members  on  or  before 
the  first  Tuesday  in  June. 

From  the  birth  of  the  Republic  to  the  present  time 
the  influence  of  the  Chamber  has  been  one  of  the  forces 
which  have  shaped  the  history  of  the  State  of  New- 
York  and  of  the  United  States.  A  year  after  its  re- 
incorporation by  the  State  Legislature  the  Chamber 
placed  the  seal  of  its  approval  on  the  project  of  one 
Chkistophee  Collis  to  connect  the  City  by  artificial 
navigation  with  the  lakes — the  germinal  idea  of  the 
Erie  Canal — and  about  the  same  time  it  entered  a  vigor- 
ous protest  against  the  scheme  which  the  Legislature 
had  then  under  consideration  for  issuing  paper  money 
and  making  it  a  legal  tender.  The  unwavering  devotion 
of  the  Chamber  to  the  cause  of  sound  money  through- 
out all  its  history  finds  expression  in  certain  remarks  in 
the  memorial  to  the  Legislature  setting  forth,  among 
other  things,  that,  "  If  the  paper  emitted  should  stand 


107 

on  such  a  basis  as  to  render  it  in  the  public  estimation 
equal  to  gold  and  silver,  the  intervention  of  legislative 
authority  to  enforce  its  reception  must  be  unnecessary. 
If  it  should  not  stand  on  such  a  basis  that  intervention 
would  be  unjust  and  indefensible  on  any  ground  of 
public  utility." 

The  first  notable  manifestation  of  the  benevolence  of 
the  Chamber  which  forms  so  brilliant  a  chapter  in  its 
history  is  to  be  found  in  the  appointment  of  a  Com- 
mittee at  a  special  meeting  held  on  July  24th,  1793,  to 
procure  subscriptions  in  aid  of  the  fugitives  from  San 
Domingo,  who,  flying  from  that  island  in  consequence 
of  the  disasters  and  horrors  of  the  servile  war,  had 
arrived,  and  were  arriving  in  the  United  States. 

The  key  note  of  a  course  of  policy  which  has  been 
followed  by  the  Chamber  for  more  than  a  hundred 
years  was  struck  at  the  meeting  of  July  21st,  1795,  con- 
vened to  consider  the  subject  which  then  particularly 
agitated  the  public  mind,  the  treaty  of  amity,  commerce 
and  navigation  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain.  The  minutes  say  the  meeting  was  the  most 
respectable  ever  held  in  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
upwards  of  seventy  members  being  present.  After  the 
treaty  was  read  resolutions  approving  it  were  adopted, 
with  only  ten  dissenting  votes. 

As  befitted  a  body  of  business  men,  the  influence  of 
the  Chamber  was,  during  all  its  history,  steadfastly 
exerted  on  the  side  of  the  policy  of  peace.  But  the 
Chamber  never  placed  considerations  of  national  honor 
below  those  of  commercial  prudence.  The  spirit  of  the 
resolutions  which  it  transmitted  to  President  Adams  in 
1798  in  regard  to  the  differences  between  the  United 
States  and  the  French  Republic  is  that  which  has  been 
manifested  in  all  similar  crises  throughout  its  history. 
At  that  time,  while  the  Chamber  approved  the  neutral 
policy  adopted  by  Washington,  at  the  beginning  of 
hostilities  in  Europe,  its  report  concluded  with   this 


108 

significant  declaration:  *'But,  estimating  our  rights  as 
an  independent  nation  far  above  any  considerations  of 
inconvenience  which  may  attend  the  means  of  main- 
taining and  preserving  them  : 

"  Resolved,  That  we  will  zealously  support  such  meas- 
ures as  the  wisdom  of  the  Government  may  dictate, 
and  demonstrate  by  our  unanimity  that  all  efforts  to 
divide  us  will  be  vain." 

No  more  impressive  illustration  could  be  given  of  the 
commercial  depression  and  internal  dissensions  attend- 
ing the  controversy  with  Great  Britain  which  led  up  to 
the  war  of  1812  than  the  suspension  for  a  period  of  eleven 
years  of  the  meetings  of  the  Chamber.  In  1807,  the 
year  in  which  the  United  States  retaliated  against 
Great  Britain  by  the  passage  of  the  Embargo  Act,  the 
total  exports  of  the  country  exceeded  $108,000,000,  of 
which  New- York's  share  was  $26,000,000.  In  the  year 
following,  the  total  exports  fell  to  $22,430,000,  of  which 
$5,600,000  represented  the  share  of  New- York.  In  the 
year  following  the  conclusion  of  peace,  1815,  the  exports 
of  New-York  almost  reached  eleven  millions  out  of  a 
total  of  fifty-two  millions,  and  when  the  sessions  of  the 
Chamber  were  resumed  in  1817,  the  trade  of  the  port 
had  regained  its  normal  proportions,  and  New- York 
took  up  again  the  career  of  progress  which  shortly  led 
her  to  the  commercial  supremacy  of  the  United  States. 

With  every  phase  of  that  progress  the  Chamber  has 
been  closely  identified,  and  it  need  hardly  be  added  that 
this  progress  has  been  the  index  and  the  reflex  of  the 
material  development  of  the  United  States,  Space 
would  fail  even  to  give  an  adequate  summary  of  the  great 
questions  in  the  settlement  of  which  the  influence  of 
the  Chamber  has  made  itself  felt,  and  the  great  public 
enterprises  to  which  it  has  lent  direction  and  impulse. 
De  Witt  Clinton  had  the  earnest  support  and  ad- 


109 

vocacy  of  the  Chamber  in  his  epoch-making  project  to 
connect  the  Great  Lakes  with  tide-water  by  a  canal. 
William  Bayakd,  who  was  President  of  the  Chamber 
from  1819  till  his  death  in  1827,  was  deeply  impressed 
with  the  benefits  which  New- York  was  likely  to  derive 
from  this  enterprise,  and  he  pledged  himself  to  Mr. 
CLiNToif  to  procure  from  his  Batch  friends  the  capital 
necessary  for  the  undertaking  upon  the  stock  of  the 
State  of  New- York.  As  early  as  1827  the  Chamber,  in 
co-operation  with  the  Philadelphia  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, adopted  a  memorial  to  the  President,  John 
QuiNCY  Adams,  in  favor  of  a  line  of  communication 
between  the  United  States  and  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
through  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Darien.  The  plan  suggested  to  the  Government  by  the 
Chamber,  in  1827,  was  for  a  line  of  small  Dational 
vessels  to  sail  once  a  month  to  Chagres,  with  a  number 
of  like  vessels  in  the  Pacific,  to  meet  their  mails  at 
Panama,  and  convey  them  to  Valparaiso.  At  that  time 
no  vision  of  a  continuous  people  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific,  stretching  across  the  whole  continent,  had 
dawned  on  the  public  mind,  and  it  was  not  till  thirty- 
three  years  later  that,  as  it  appeared  to  the  Chamber,  an 
urgent  necessity  existed  for  the  establishment  of  mail 
facilities  between  the  cities  of  San  Francisco  in  Cali- 
fornia and  Shanghai  in  China.  In  1833  a  project  for  a 
ship  canal  around  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  and  a  railroad 
from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Hudson,  was  laid  before  the 
Chamber,  and  a  very  favorable  expression  of  opinion 
was  elicited.  A  Committee  was  appointed  to  publish 
the  plan  of  the  proposed  canal,  and  a  pamphlet  ex- 
planatory of  the  whole  scheme  was  prepared  for  general 
distribution.  In  1846  a  Committee  of  the  Chamber 
brought  in  a  report  in  favor  of  Whitney's  project  of  a 
railroad  to  the  Pacific.  The  report  concluded  as  fol- 
lows :  "  If  it  be  our  desire,  as  it  is  our  interest,  that  our 
Union  should  extend  from  sea  to  sea,  we  must  bind  it 


110 

by  something  stronger  than  parchment  bonds — by  the 
ties  of  brotherhood,  of  common  interests,  and  of  easy 
and  rapid  inter- communication — by  the  iron  bands — in 
short,  of  a  railroad.  This,  which  is  a  political  necessity, 
will  also  be  a  great  commercial  advantage."  In  1868 
the  Chamber  hailed  the  laying  of  the  first  Atlantic  cable 
as  the  great  event  of  the  age,  and  it  recognized  in  the 
new  connection  of  the  two  continents  another  bond  of 
union,  by  means  of  which  two  kindred  nations  of  the 
world  were  brought  into  nearer  alliance. 

While  resolutely  opposed,  in  the  early  twenties,  to 
the  repeal  of  the  laws  prohibiting  trade  in  British 
vessels  from  the  colonies,  while  the  colonial  system  of 
Great  Britain  was  maintained  against  our  navigation, 
the  Chamber  was  prompt  to  recognize  the  necessity  of 
liberalizing  our  commercial  relations  with  other  countries 
in  return  for  similar  concessions  from  them.  In  1852, 
the  Chamber  recommended  to  the  special  consideration 
of  Congress  a  reciprocity  arrangement  with  the  British 
North  American  Provinces  for  the  free  inter-change 
of  the  natural  products  of  the  respective  countries. 
The  appeal  was  renewed  in  1866,  when  a  report  on  the 
reciprocity  trade  with  Canada  was  unanimosly  adopted, 
and  ordered  to  be  forwarded  to  Congress,  asking  the 
extension  of  this  reciprocity,  so  as  to  do  away  with  "all 
duties  and  restrictions  on  the  importation  into  the 
United  States  of  all  articles,  the  growth,  produce  or 
manufacture  of  the  Canadas ;  also  to  permit  all  ships 
and  vessels  built  in  Canada  to  participate  on  equal 
terms  in  the  shipping  or  coasting  trade  on  the  interior 
lakes  and  fresh  waters  intervening  between  the  two 
countries,  and  for  that  purpose  to  open  to  the  free  and 
common  use  of  both  all  the  water  communications, 
coasts  and  ports  on  the  said  intervening  waters  between 
Canada  and  the  United  States,  to  take  effect  whenever 
the  Government  of  Canada  shall  pass  a  law  to  extend 
the  like  privileges  to  citizens  of  the  United  States,  so 


in 

that  the  vessels  of  Taoth  conntries  may  engage  in  the 
coasting  trade  on  the  intervening  waters  aforesaid  on 
equal  terms."  In  1858  notice  was  taken  of  the  unusual 
number  of  treaties  recently  perfected,  providing  for  com- 
mercial relations  with  foreign  nations.  The  treaty  with 
Japan,  negotiated  by  Commodore  Perey  in  1854,  and 
the  naval  operations  of  which  it  was  the  sequel,  com- 
mended themselves  so  strongly  to  the  appreciation  of 
the  Chamber,  that  a  Committee  of  twenty-five  of  the 
leading  members  was  designated  to  take  such  measures 
as  they  deemed  proper  in  recognition  of  these  services. 
The  sum  of  six  thousand  dollars  was  raised  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  was  used  in  the  purchase  of  a  silver  service 
of  plate. 

As  early  as  1821  the  Chamber  began  its  agitation  for 
a  national  bankrupt  law,  and  the  usury  laws,  which 
later  became  part  of  the  legislation  of  the  State,  were 
the  subject  of  its  frequent  and  vigorous  protest. 
Among  New- York  merchants,  opinions  were  pretty 
evenly  divided  as  to  the  benefits  derivable  from  the 
policy  of  protection  to  domestic  industry,  and  many 
were  the  discussions  on  this  question  during  the  first 
half  of  the  last  century.  In  1819  delegates  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  Chamber  to  a  Congress  which  met  in 
Philadelphia  for  the  declared  purpose  of  taking  meas- 
ures to  defeat  the  then  proposed  tariff  bill.  The  Con- 
vention consisted  wholly  of  delegates  from  New- 
England,  New- York,  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  and 
William  Bayard,  President  of  the  New- York  Cham- 
ber, was  chosen  President  of  the  Convention.  Accord- 
ing to  the  resolutions  of  this  body,  revenue  was  stated 
as  the  legitimate  purpose  of  legislation  on  the  subject 
of  duties ;  and  the  abolition  of  drawbacks  and  the  im- 
position of  cash  duties  were  alike  resisted  as  injurious 
to  commerce,  manufactures  and  agriculture.  In  later 
years  efforts  were  made  to  commit  the  Chamber  to  one 
side  or  other  of  the  perennial  controversy  between  the 


113 

partisans  of  protection  and  free  'trade,  but  the  resolu- 
tions were  uniformly  tabled.  An  exception  may  be 
noted  in  the  earnest  and  forcible  remonstrance  made  to 
Congress,  in  January,  1828,  against  the  further  increase 
of  the  duties  on  woolens,  and  the  commendation 
officially  bestowed  on  a  report  by  a  Committee  of  the 
citizens  of  Boston  in  regard  to  the  further  increase  of 
the  tariff. 

On  all  matters  relating  to  the  special  interests  of  the 
commerce  of  the  port,  the  Chamber  was  unfailingly 
vigilant.  It  effectively  vetoed  in  1834  a  proposal  to  sell 
the  City  Hall  to  the  General  Government  for  a  Custom 
House  and  Post  Office,  and  in  1840  a  Committee  of  the 
Chamber  reported  their  concurrence  with  the  Committee 
of  the  Common  Council  in  the  opinion,  that  the  condi- 
tion of  the  wharves  and  piers  of  the  City  was  a  subject 
of  just  reproach.  The  expenses  and  charges  of  trans- 
acting business  at  the  Custom  House,  and  for  storage  ; 
the  management  of  the  Post  Office  and  other  topics  of 
cognate  interest  formed  the  subject  of  elaborate  reports 
by  the  Chamber,  and  one  of  these,  bearing  date  of 
March  2d,  1841,  on  "the  unnecessary  burdens  upon 
trade,  more  i)articularly  minor  charges  and  administra- 
tive expenses,"  is  not  without  relevancy  to  the  griev- 
ances of  New- York  commerce  to-day.  The  New- York 
Pilots  and  their  efforts  to  obtain  a  monopoly  were,  for 
a  generation,  a  subject  of  continual  trouble  to  the 
Chamber,  and  it  was  only  in  1845,  when,  in  concert 
with  the  Board  of  Marine  Underwriters,  a  Board  of 
Pilot  Commissioners  was  organized,  that  a  satisfactory 
adjustment  of  a  much  debated  question  was  finally 
reached.  The  recommendations  of  the  Chamber  for  the 
improvement  of  the  entrances  to  the  Harbor,  both  from 
the  sound  and  the  ocean,  were  concurrent  with  its  plans 
for  pier  and  dock  extension,  and  both  represent  a  phase 
of  activity  which,  extending  through  most  of  the  nine- 


113 

teenth  centnry,  is  not  likely  to  find  itself  exhausted  in 
the  twentieth. 

It  is  instructive  to  note  the  fact  that  the  early  phases 
of  the  development  of  the  Northwest  were  sympathet- 
ically watched  by  the  Chamber.  At  the  June  meeting 
of  1847,  upon  the  invitation  of  a  Committee  of  citizens 
of  Chicago,  the  Chamber  decided  to  send  representatives 
to  attend  the  Northwestern  Harbor  and  River  Conven- 
tion, to  be  held  in  that  city,  and  the  Chamber  also  voted 
to  convene  a  public  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  New- York 
in  order  to  appoint  a  deputation  to  attend  the  same  con- 
vention. Further  evidence  of  the  readiness  of  the 
Chamber  to  lend  its  aid  to  anything  calculated  to  advance 
the  interest  of  the  mercantile  marine  of  the  United 
States  is  found  in  a  memorial  to  Congress  of  1851  in 
favor  of  an  appropriation  for  opening  a  good  inlet  into 
Albemarle  Sound,  for  the  reason  that  the  work  proposed 
is  one  calculated  to  benefit  the  commerce  and  shipping 
interests  of  the  whole  country,  and  thus  is  a  national 
object.  Not  less  significant  of  the  same  spirit  is  the 
memorial  addressed  to  Congress  in  March,  1854,  setting 
forth  the  deterioration  in  the  character  of  sailors  and 
the  need  of  some  measure  or  policy  which  would  restore 
the  standard  of  seamanship  and  the  character  and  quali- 
fication of  sailors  in  our  mercantile  marine  to  its  former 
elevation.  It  was  specifically  recommended  that  naval 
schools  should  be  established  in  some  of  the  principal 
seaports  of  the  United  States,  the  schools  to  be  in  hulks 
anchored  in  the  ports  selected,  for  the  reception  of  boys 
and  their  preparation  for  sea  service. 

On  the  subject  of  privateering,  the  Chamber  has  had 
repeated  occasion  to  declare  its  sentiments,  and  in  April, 
1854,  it  made  an  elaborate  statement  of  these  in  the  form 
of  a  memorial  to  Congress  declaring,  among  other  things, 
that  in  view  of  the  magnitude  of  the  tonnage  of  this 
country,  and  its  rapid  increase,  it  is  incumbent  upon  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  to  exert  a  leading  in- 


114 

fluence  in  bringing  about  the  abolition  of  privateering, 
whether  they  regard  the  demands  of  justice  and  human- 
ity or  the  interests  of  our  citizens  so  much  exposed  on 
every  ocean.  The  principle  which  received  the  endorse- 
ment of  the  Chamber  as  to  private  property  at  sea  was 
that  free  ships  should  make  free  goods,  and  the  neutral 
flag  give  neutrality  to  the  cargo. 

The  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  found  the  members  of 
the  Chamber  united  on  the  side  of  the  North,  without 
respect  to  individual  interest  or  business  affiliation.  A 
week  after  the  firing  of  the  first  gun  on  Fort  Sumter,  a 
large  and  enthusiastic  meeting  was  held  in  the  rooms  of 
the  Chamber,  and  the  members  assembled  in  such  num- 
bers that  the  entire  building  had  to  be  thrown  open  for 
their  accommodation.  The  President,  Pelatiah  Perit, 
announced  the  object  of  the  meeting  to  be  to  take  notice 
of  the  alarming  tidings  of  the  outbreak  of  rebellion 
against  the  laws  in  South  Carolina,  and  he  called  upon 
the  Chamber  to  respond  to  the  appeal  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States  by  assisting  the  Government  to 
raise  a  volunteer  force  of  75,000  men.  George  Opdyke, 
afterwards  Mayor  of  the  City,  submitted  a  series  of 
resolutions  which  were  unanimously  adopted,  pledging 
the  Chamber  to  sustain  the  Government  and  maintain 
the  honor  of  the  national  flag.  James  Gallatin  called 
the  attention  of  the  Chamber  to  the  fact  that  a  part  of 
the  recent  loan  applied  for  by  the  Treasury  had  not  yet 
been  taken,  whereupon  a  special  Committee  of  Finance 
was  appointed,  and  the  balance  of  the  loan,  amounting 
to  eight  millions  of  dollars,  was  at  once  subscribed,  and 
the  Treasury  Department  notified  of  the  fact  that  this 
sum  could  be  drawn  at  once.  William  E.  Dodge  then 
submitted  a  resolution  for  the  appointment  of  a  Com- 
mittee to  receive  subscriptions  to  be  applied  to  raising 
regiments  of  volunteers  to  proceed  at  once  to  the  seat 
of  war,  and  also  to  provide  for  the  support  of  the  fami- 
lies of  such  volunteers. 


110 

All  through  the  contest  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Union,  the  Chamber  missed  no  opportunity  to  do  all  in 
its  power  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  Government  at 
Washington.  At  the  meeting  of  September,  1861,  in 
view  of  the  unexpected  magnitude  of  the  contest,  the 
Chamber  deemed  it  a  duty  to  renew  its  pledge  to  the 
Government  of  earnest  sympathy  and  support,  adding  : 
"  That  the  members  of  the  Chamber,  having  entire  con- 
fidence in  the  integrity  and  ability  of  the  head  of  the 
Treasury  Department,  will  exercise  their  best  efforts 
individually  and  collectively,  and  in  their  connections 
with  moneyed  institutions,  to  strengthen  the  financial 
resources  and  credit  of  the  Government."  In  February, 
1862,  a  resolution  was  adopted  setting  forth  that,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Chamber,  the  financial  condition  of  the 
Government  and  of  the  country  required  the  immediate 
passage  of  the  bill  then  before  Congress,  authorizing 
the  issue  of  $100,000,000  United  States  notes  as  a  circu- 
lating medium,  and  making  them  a  legal  tender  in  pay- 
ment of  all  debts.  The  pledge  was  added  that  the  mer- 
chants of  New-York  would  sustain  the  Government,  by 
all  the  means  within  their  power,  in  giving  credit  and 
currency  to  these  notes  until  they  could  be  placed  on 
a  specie  basis  by  the  imposition  of  taxes  adequate 
for  their  redemption. 

In  the  dark  days  of  1862,  *'in  view  of  the  critical  state 
of  public  affairs  and  the  need  of  united  action  on  the 
part  of  all  patriotic  individuals  and  corporations,"  it  was 
unanimously  resolved,  that  the  Chamber  would  "con- 
tinue to  sustain,  by  its  influence  with  the  commercial 
community,  and  to  the  fullest  extent  of  its  means,  the 
National  Government  in  a  vigorous  and  determined 
effort  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  the  Union  and  effectu- 
ally put  down  the  rebellion."  In  January,  1863,  the 
Chamber  issued  a  seasonable  reminder  "  that,  as  it  is  a 
Christian  duty  to  respect  and  obey,  so  it  is  the  patriot's 
duty  to   honor  and  uphold    the  powers  that    be — to 


116 

lighten  the  burdens  that  devolve  on  the  Executive  and 
heads  of  Departments,  disproportioned  as  they  are  to 
human  strength,  and  it  is  not  a  loyal  part  to  aggravate 
these  burdens  by  the  voice  of  unnecessary  and  injurious 
complaint."  When,  therefore,  the  end  came  with  Lee's 
surrender,  it  was  with  no  common  feeling  of  satisfac- 
tion that  the  Chamber  was  able  to  recall  the  fact  that, 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion  it  had  "solemnly 
pledged  to  the  support  of  the  Government  the  vast 
resources  of  this  commercial  community,  urging  the 
instant  blockade  of  the  Southern  ports  at  the  cost  of  a 
large  and  prosperous  commerce  ;"  and  that  it  had  since, 
"  at  each  and  every  time,  when  the  credit  or  the  honor 
of  the  nation  has  been  in  danger,  renewed  to  the  Grov- 
ernment  its  assurances  of  support." 

The  injuries  inflicted  on  American  commerce  by  the 
depredations  of  the  Alabama  and  other  Confederate 
cruisers,  formed  the  subject  of  constant  remonstrance 
on  the  part  of  the  Chamber,  and  of  appeals  addressed 
to  the  enlightened  sentiment  of  the  mercantile  com- 
munity of  Great  Britain  and  to  the  sense  of  justice  of 
the  British  Government.  It  is  highly  characteristic  of 
the  attitude  of  the  Chamber  toward  public  calamity  or 
distress,  that  in  the  very  midst  of  these  appeals  its  mer- 
chants should  have  had  hearts  large  enough  and  means 
broad  enough  to  assist  the  sufferers  in  Lancashire  from 
the  enforced  stoppage  of  cotton  manufacture.  The  sum 
of  $150,000  was  collected  and  disbursed  for  the  relief  of 
the  distressed,  and  a  ship  bearing  the  honored  name  of 
George  Griswold  transported  this  relief  to  the  starv- 
ing operatives  at  Lancashire  without  any  charge  what- 
ever by  the  owners  of  the  ship. 

But  all  this  is  merely  part  of  a  record  probably 
without  a  parallel  among  organizations  devoted  to 
the  promotion  of  commerce,  of  which,  as  we  have 
already  indicated,  the  first  notable  item  was  the  relief 
extended  to  the  fugitives  from  San  Domingo  in  1793. 


117 

As  Charles  S.  Smith,  President  of  the  Chamber  in 
1890,  said,  "  But  no  matter  which  of  the  great  political 
parties  held  for  the  time  being  the  reins  of  government, 
this  Association  was  bound  by  its  traditions  and  pre- 
cedents in  all  matters  of  State  and  national  legislation 
relating  to  commerce  and  industry,  to  promote  good 
laws,  to  amend  imperfect  laws  and  defeat  bad  ones  ; 
that  in  the  matter  of  relief  to  sufferers  by  famine,  fire  or 
flood  more  than  two  million  dollars  in  charity  have 
passed  through  the  hands  of  our  Treasurer  for  these 
commendable  objects  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury." To  that  impressive  total  must  be  added  the 
sum  of  recent  benefactions,  so  that  without  going 
further  back  than  1862  we  find  that  the  amount  of 
money  disbursed  by  the  Chamber  for  such  purposes 
has  aggregated  over  two  and  three-quarter  millions  of 
dollars. 

In  safeguarding  the  conditions  of  sound  financial  and 
commercial  progress  since  the  war,  the  Chamber  has 
borne  a  distinguished  part.  It  has  had  a  share,  fully 
proportioned  to  the  magnitude  of  the  interests  which  it 
represents,  in  combatting  the  recurrent  financial  heresies 
of  repudiation,  inflation,  and  the  unlimited  coinage  of 
silver.  Its  work  in  this  respect  is  not  yet  done,  but  it  can 
point  with  justifiable  pride  to  the  very  solid  results 
which  have  been  accomplished,  results  which,  ten  years 
ago,  the  most  sanguine  hardly  deemed  possible.  If  we 
leave  the  records  of  the  past  forty  years  to  si)eak  for 
themselves,  it  is  because  they  are  part  of  the  history  in 
which  some  of  us  have  borne  part,  and  with  which  all 
of  us  are  more  or  less  familiar.  We  may  confidently 
say,  without  unduly  exalting  the  character  and  influ- 
ence of  those  of  the  generation  to  which  the  middle- 
aged  among  us  belong,  that  they  have  been  worthy 
of  the  early  traditions  of  the  Chamber,  and  have  been 
among  the  recognized  influences  which  have  shaped  the 
commercial  history  of  our   time. 


118 

We  close  this  brief  history  with  the  reminder  that 
sixty-one  years  ago  last  March,  at  a  special  meeting  held 
at  the  Mayor's  office  in  the  City  Hall,  it  was  resolved  that 
among  the  steps  which  should  be  taken  to  increase  the 
usefulness  of  the  Chamber  was  this  :  "To  procure  offices 
of  a  suitable  size  and  in  a  central  position  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  library  of  the  Chamber,  and  for  the 
daily  meeting  of  such  members  as  may  choose  to  report 
there."  Writing  in  1856,  Dr.  Charles  King,  President 
of  Columbia  College,  found  occasion  to  lament  that  up  to 
that  hour  this  judicious  recommendation  had  remained 
a  dead  letter,  and  to  ask:  "Shall  it  always  be  thus? 
Shall  not  the  time  come  when  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce of  New- York  shall  have  its  own  hall,  its  library, 
its  archives,  and  its  gallery  of  pictures  ?"  The  time  has 
come  at  last,  and  a  permanent  home  for  the  Chamber, 
with  all  that  it  implies,  is  the  completed  achievement  of 
to-day,  and  it  is  this  consummation  of  long  effort  the 
Chamber  meets  to  celebrate,  with  a  full  knowledge  of 
all  the  new  opportunities  that  it  offers,  and  a  full 
appreciation  of  the  added  responsibilities  which  it 
entails. 


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FORM  NO.  DD6 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
BERKELEY,  CA  94720 


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